European cooperation on geothermal research through the GEOTHERMAL ERA NET

In 2012, the European Commission has provided a financial grant to launch a GEOTHERMAL ERA NET and support its development for four years until October 2016. Research and innovation programme owners and managers from 11 European countries have joined the ERA NET under the leadership of Iceland's National Energy Authority, Orkustofnun, to realize the first steps of an integrated European geothermal energy research and innovation programme. Initial activities focused on exchange of information on national research and innovation ecosystems, identify shared goals, objectives, gaps, areas of necessary and unnecessary duplication. Subsequently, a number of Joint Activities of panEuropean interest were established to learn how national funding agents collaborate and cooperate. Progress and added value in the joint activities - together with a shared vision that geothermal energy is crucial to Europe's sustainable development and competitiveness - has resulted in the preparation of a more extensive cooperation via an ERA NET cofund, GEOTHERMICA. GEOTHERMICA will have at its core a joint call, an expansion of Joint Activities and is envisaged to run from 2016/2017 to 2020/2021. Thankfully, more European countries have indicated their willingness to join GEOTHERMICA.