CROWDTHERMAL Conference | Introducing Our Services for Community-Funded Geothermal Projects
CROWDTHERMAL – An Innovation Project Funded by European Commission
The mission of the Horizon 2020 funded CROWDTHERMAL project is to empower the European public to directly participate in the development of geothermal projects, with the help of alternative financing schemes and social engagement tools. The project team has developed a set of reports, addressing social, environmental, financial, and risk mitigation aspects of community-financed geothermal projects.
The objective is to turn CROWDTHERMAL into a one-stop-shop for inquiries about empowerment in geothermal projects through community funding.
CROWDTHERMAL is organising a first international conference on 7 April 2022 in a hybrid format, on-site in Madrid and online.
Objectives of CROWDTHERMAL First International Conference
The project team is currently finalising a set of core services with regard to the alternative financing of geothermal projects. These services encompass environmental studies, financial aspects, financial risk mitigation, social sciences, and the geothermal sector. The core services will assist the geothermal sector, contributing to an accelerated market development in Europe.
CROWDTHERMAL aims to provide services to:
- Communities of citizens keen to become actors in the energy transition process. The benefits for these communities could be economical or environmental.
- Geothermal project developers interested in involving the community to increase commitment and/or fundraising.
- Local authorities interested in involving the community to develop a Sustainable Energy (and Climate) Action Plan 2030.
Therefore, the main objective of the CROWDTHERMAL First International Conference is to present the core services to the pre-identified target groups, and to receive feedback and input for their further improvement.
CROWDTHERMAL First International Conference: Introducing our services for community-funded feothermal projects
Conference Agenda
Opening
09:30 – Welcome and CROWDTHERMAL project objectives (by the organisers)
10:00 – Keynote speech ‘Geothermal in the energy transition and the role of the society’ (Joan Groizard, General Director of IDAE)
Geothermal energy to decarbonise cities
10:20 – Existing geothermal technology for 2030 and in development for 2050 (Javier Urchueguia, Geothermal Chairman for the Geothermal panel in the European Technology and Innovation Platform on Renewable Heating and Cooling)
10:35 – Geothermal DHC, contribution to decarbonising cities (Gregor Götzl, Coordinator of Geothermal DHC Cost Action)
10:50 – Geothermal in district heating, the example of city Geothermal DH, CROWDTHERMAL Case Study 1 (Tamás Medgyes, District Heating Company of Szeged – SZDH, Hungary)
11:05 – Geothermal energy in civil construction (Fernando Pardo, Geotechnical laboratory, CEDEX, tbc)
11:20 – Q&A
11:30 – Coffee break
Financing of Geothermal projects
12:00 – Geothermal projects financing, challenges and economic benefits (tbc)
12:15 – Geothermal energy in the NextGeneration funds in Spain (tbc)
12:30 – Alternative financial schemes and risk mitigation for geothermal projects (Ronald Kleverlaan, CFH, and Christina Baisch, GeoT)
12:45 – Geothermal in buildings cooperatives, Example of the community fund CROWDTHERMAL Case Study 2 (Marcel Hendricks, President of EAI310 Cooperative, Spain)
13:00 – Q&A
13:30 – Lunch break
Social Engagement in Geothermal projects
14:30 – Energy Democracy (Katrina Folland, Celsius initiative Coordinator, tbc)
14:45 – Geothermal social perception (Jan Hildebrand, IZES)
15:00 – Geothermal Social Licence to Operate (Amel Barich, GEORG)
15:15 – Local authorities working with the community, CROWDTHERMAL Case Study 3 in Iceland (Ottó Elíasson or Sesselja Ingibjörg)
15:30 – Q&A
15:45 – Coffee break
CROWDTHERMAL Core Services
16:15 – CROWDTHERMAL Services for communities, local authorities and project developers (Marcio Tameirao, LPRC)
16:30 – Panel discussion with representatives from the 3 stakeholder groups:
Energy community Local authorities Project developers
17:15 – Wrap-up and conclusions, Future of CROWDTHERMAL
17:30 – Closing the conference
Conference Venue
Ministerio de Transportes, Movilidad y Agenda Urbana y Ministerio de Transición Ecológica y R. D.
C/ Alfonso XII, 3 y 5
28014 Madrid, Spain
