The
1st on
the series of
GEOFAR Workshops took place in
Madrid
at the
Institute of Geology and Mines of
Spain (
IGME) and was
co-organized with the
Institute
of Energy for SE Europe
(
IENE).
“
A European Solution for Geothermal
Energy Projects in Spain” was the topic of this joined
IGME-IENE Workshop, which was attended by more than 100 participants
from a
wide range of companies and institutions, including state organizations,
local
authorities and private companies involved in geothermal projects in
Spain and Europe.
The Workshop’s detailed program can be found in the GEOFAR website
(www.geofar.eu)
The EU-funded project
GEOFAR – Geothermal Finance and
Awareness in
European Regions, which deals with the application and promotion
of geothermal
energy in Europe is being carried out within
the framework of EU’s “
Intelligent Energy Europe” (
IEE) programme, which is
part of the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme. The
project
GEOFAR aims to unveil the non technical difficulties and barriers which
hinder
the initial stages of geothermal energy projects and are responsible for
the
lack of this kind of investments in Europe.
One of the main goals of GEOFAR is to propose workable solutions and to
raise
awareness on geothermal energy among decision makers, especially at
regional level,
in order to help boost new investments.
Although many countries in Europe have
a great geothermal potential and latest technological innovations now
permit a
much more efficient use of geothermal energy, the exploitation of this
potential is still inadequate. This is mainly due to a lack of
information
among decision makers and investors, but also because of inappropriate
funding
schemes. GEOFAR develops and proposes appropriate and innovative
financing and
funding schemes, raises awareness and disseminates knowledge and
information
among the different target groups.
GEOFAR comprises a consortium of 8 European institutes and companies
from 5 different European Union countries. The 8 partners include:
Institute of
Geology and Mineral Exploration (Greece), Instituto Geologico y Minero
de
Espana (Spain), Institute of Energy for South East Europe (Greece),
Arena
(Portugal), Rödl & Partner (Germany), Energo Group (Greece), BRGM
(France)
and Erlangen AG (Project Coordinator, Germany).
The GEOFAR project is divided in two parts. The first part includes the
analysis, the findings and descriptions of the technologies and
financing methods,
while the second one deals with information dissemination. In the first
part
the results consist of several reports on geothermal activities in
selected
countries, case studies, proposals for financial instruments, fact
sheets about
innovative geothermal technologies and the main outcome, financial
schemes
validated by experts. The second part is related to dissemination
activities,
such as the regular updating of the GEOFAR website (www.geofar.eu), a
video documentary film about
geothermal energy, press announcements and the publication of a
quarterly newsletter.
Furthermore, a series of awareness seminars are organized in Madrid,
Lisbon, Bratislava,
Budapest and Sofia. A major conference will be held in Thessalonica
in northern Greece
in early 2011, where the project participants will announce the final
results
and conclusions of GEOFAR and other relevant work by geothermal experts
and
companies will be presented.
With this broad dissemination GEOFAR aims at
updating on a regular basis the various target groups in the different
European
countries, thus contributing to improved awareness and the shaping of a
positive investment environment.