BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 27. The total capacity of the European geothermal market is expected to exceed 6.2 gigawatt thermal (GWt) in 2030, which is an increase of 58 percent from today’s level (3.9 GWt), Trend reports via Rystad Energy, independent energy research and business intelligence company from Norway.
According to Rystad Energy’s forecast, a total of 3.9 GWt of geothermal energy that is to be deployed is expected to cost an estimated $7.4 billion.
As the company noted, the industry, which has been usually led by Iceland, France, and Hungary, is expanding thanks to new players joining, such as Germany and the Netherlands, which have ambitious plans regarding boosting the number of geothermal projects by 2030.
“Germany is pouring money into geothermal projects and is expected to spend more than $1.5 billion by 2030. The only country to install more capacity between 2022 and 2030 will be the Netherlands, which will have more than 1 GWt capacity by the end of the decade, spending $1.1 billion in the process. The UK is somewhat late to the party, with more focus on geothermal power projects and only 20 MWt of geothermal heating capacity today, but that total is expected to top 100 MWt in 2030. The UK government is expected to spend more than $470 million on geothermal heating by the decade’s end,” Rystad Energy said.
However, as the researchers noted, there still remain some drawbacks and risks that concern heating networks, which are the most significant cost components for geothermal district heating projects, as well as drilling costs.
“Drilling success is variable and largely dependent on the specific location of the well and the industry’s maturity in that particular country. For instance, success rates in Germany and Hungary often exceed 90 percent, but similar rates in the Netherlands sink as low as 70 percent. This can largely be attributed to the Dutch geothermal industry being in its infancy compared to its neighbors,” the company explained.
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