GEOTHERMICA Initiative Annual Meeting 2025: Advancing geothermal innovation and collaboration

The GEOTHERMICA Initiative Annual Meeting 2025 brought together stakeholders, researchers, and policymakers from across Europe to discuss the latest advancements in geothermal energy and strengthen international collaboration. Hosted in a hybrid format, the meeting focused on strategic priorities for the year ahead, including new funding opportunities, research initiatives, and policy developments.

The meeting kicked off with an overview of the planned activities for the coming year. Some of the key events and milestones include:

• GEOTHERMICA & EEA Workshop in Oradea (January 2025) – Reviewing the outcomes of cooperative geothermal projects in Romania and Poland.
• CETP TRI4 H&C & GEOTHERMICA Webinar (April 2025) – Strengthening knowledge-sharing on heating and cooling technologies.
• Vienna 2025 UTES Workshop (May 19-23, 2025)
• Zurich 2025 UTES Symposium IEA & GEOTHERMICA – (October 6, 2025)

Initiative will be working this year also on highlighting focus areas within geothermal energy, with an emphasis on:

• Cities & Regions – Engaging municipalities from Poland, Romania, and other regions to advance urban geothermal solutions.
• Underground Thermal Storage Projects – Exploring new approaches to integrate geothermal energy into broader energy systems with a set of workshops and symposium
• Superhot Geothermal – Advancing research in high-enthalpy geothermal resources.
• Policy & Risk Mitigation – Identifying financial mechanisms and regulatory support for geothermal deployment.

The meeting concluded with strategic discussions on increasing membership, fostering deeper collaboration, and expanding GEOTHERMICA’s reach. Moving forward, efforts will be made to enhance cooperation with Poland and Romania, particularly as Poland’s EU presidency play a role in promoting geothermal energy on the European agenda.

As GEOTHERMICA continues to bridge knowledge gaps and facilitate transnational collaboration, the momentum from this annual meeting is set to drive meaningful progress in the geothermal energy sector throughout 2025 and beyond.