The 2nd GEOFAR Workshop took place today
(5/11)
in the Sana Lisboa Hotel, in Lisbon, Portugal, and was organized by the Institute of Energy for SE Europe (IENE) and the Regional Agency for Energy and Environment of Azores (ARENA).
“A European Solution for Geothermal Energy Projects in Portugal” was the topic of this joined ARENA-IENE workshop, which was attended by approximately 50 participants from several companies and institutions, including state organizations, local authorities and private companies involved in geothermal projects in Portugal and Europe. A local TV network also covered the workshop.
The workshop opened with a video message by Mr. Costis Stambolis, Executive Director of IENE, followed by the speech of Mr. Nuno Domingues, President of ARENA. A video documentary on geothermal energy prepared by IENE was also shown.
Following that, a short presentation of the GEOFAR Project was made by Mr. Diogo Caetano of ARENA.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. 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.
Mr. Carlos Bicudo da Ponte’s (SOGEO –Geothermal Society of Azores) speech on “Geothermal Energy Situation at Azores: A Successful Case Study”, focused on the projects that are already underway in
the
Azores
as well as on those which are scheduled to be carried out.
Mr. Nicholas Sofianos, European Projects Co-ordinator of IENE, presented GeoRIMI as a solution for geothermal investments.
GeoRiMi, a Geothermal Risk Mitigation Scheme,
has been
developed by GEOFAR in order to provide subsidies and guarantees for the exploration and drilling phase of deep geothermal projects. GeoRIMI aims at covering the lack of information among decision makers and investors, but also
in
making up for inappropriate funding schemes. With the successful implementation of GeoRiMi, numerous geothermal energy projects can benefit from this innovative financial instrument that
it is hoped it
will sustainably boost the geothermal sector across Europe.
The next speaker of the 2nd GEOFAR Workshop, Mr. Jose Martins de Carvalho, ISEP (Superior Engineering Institute of Porto), gave an overview of geothermal energy developments in Portugal, followed by Mr. by Luis Gomes, UBI (University of Beira Interior), whose subject was “Low Enthalpy Geothermal Energy and Thermalism: The Case Study of Sγo Pedro do Sul”.
GEOFAR
’s
workshop “A European Solution for Geothermal Energy Projects in Portugal” closed with a general discussion on the GEOFAR project and the prospects of geothermal energy in Europe.
GEOFAR comprises a consortium of
eight
(8) European institutes and companies from five (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
t
wo parts. The first part includes the analysis, the findings and descriptions of the technologies and financ
i
ng 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,
c
ase studies, proposals for financial instruments, fact sheets about innovative geothermal technologies and the main outcome, financial schemes validated by experts. T
h
e 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
being
organized in Madrid, Lisbon, Bratislava, Budapest and Sofia. A major conference will be held
at the end of the project
in Thessaloniki 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 also be presented.
With this broad dissemination
effort,
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.