Reproducing GCHP investments: a common methodology to evaluate the degree of success

Geothermal energy, that is the energy extracted from heat stored in the earth, is one of the most environmentally-friendly and cost-effective energy sources with potential to help mitigate global warming and replace fossil fuels if widely deployed. The IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation (source, IPCC 2010) compares the lifecycle GHG emissions for broad categories of electricity generation technologies and highlights, among other things, the huge potential of the geothermal energy in reducing the GHG emissions. Recent technological progress, the variability of the cost, the difficulty of oil and gas supply from foreign countries and the need to reduce the use of fossil fuels to cut pollution have made the exploitation of geothermal energy, especially low-enthalpy power generation utilizing GCHP (Ground Coupled Heat Pumps), an attractive and viable energy alternative. Advances in technology have dramatically expanded the range and size of viable resources, especially for applications such as home heating and cooling, opening up the potential for widespread exploitation such as geothermal energy applications to curb energy consumption of industry and small and medium enterprises, that are the most exposed to the energy price fluctuation. Therefore, as stressed by the UE Energy Roadmap to 2050, a broad diffusion of this type of energy source could bring a concrete contribution to decarbonise the European economy and meet the targets of reducing the GHG emissions by 20% by 2020 and by 80-95% by 2050 (compared to 1990 levels). Nevertheless, the European Commission points out that this sector is not doing enough to exploit the potential of renewable energy sources (RES), emphasising that increased electricity and heat generation from geothermal resources will partially avoid the need for new fossil fuel power generation. Geothermal heating and cooling still need research and development over the next few years, notably to improve the efficiency of the systems and to decrease installation and operational costs. However, the main barrier to increased geothermal deployment is a lack of appropriate financial incentives and legislation (particularly relevant to the new build market where house-builders must install a certain number of energy efficiency and RES measures to obtain planning permission) as well as on both EU and local level. Hence, the European Commission, in the Renewable Energy Road Map, encourages member states and their local authorities to apply and implement concrete measures in order to improve energy production and distribution, to facilitate financing and investment in the green sector, and to encourage and consolidate rational energy consumption behaviour, with the final aim of making Europe the world leader in renewable energy and low-carbon technologies. GEO.POWER is set against this background. The partnership, composed of twelve partners from nine EU countries under the coordination of the Province of Ferrara (IT), being aware of the energy challenges mentioned above, has implemented a two-year capitalisation project under the INTERREG IVC programme aiming at evaluating the reproducibility of some of the most outstanding examples of best practice currently existing in Europe for the utilisation of low-enthalpy energy, mainly related to the so called ground-coupled heat pumps (GCHP). The project objectives are (a) to exchange the partners’ own experiences on geothermal energy production through GCHP to support the weakest regions to implement large scale investments; (b) to fill the legislation gaps in the geothermal energy sector to address a favourable (political and normative) context to attract investment; (c) to profile an integrated package of final incentives and technical measures in the frame of the forthcoming Regional Operational Programme in the period post 2013, where large amount of funds (currently under negotiations) will be dedicated to co-finance energy efficiency and carbon-free energy projects. In GEO.POWER the necessary implementation measures are outlined in one action plan per project area, to be later on financed through regional and national mainstream programmes or future regional financial instruments. The action plan consists of a local strategy (covering several aspects such as the technological transfer, the definition of subsidy schemes and the training of personnel) for the large scale introduction of GCHP.