Boosting geothermal heat pumps to mainstream cost-effective and efficient renewable heating and cooling in buildings

Introduction

The Fit for 55 Package, which outlined policy measures to deliver the EU Green Deal, calls for a greater than 40% target for renewable energy sources by 2030 in the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). It also calls for an increased primary (39%) and final (36%) energy savings to be achieved by the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED). Accelerating the penetration of cost-effective and energy-efficient renewable heating and cooling (RES HC) technologies will be key to the successful achievement of these targets.

Challenges in RES HC Implementation

However, RES HC is hampered by ineffective policy measures, institutional barriers, stop-and-go financial support schemes, and incumbent power which has designed markets around fossil fuel utilization rather than capital-intensive RES HC solutions.

Historical Context

These blockages were identified as early as 2005 by the K4 RES-H Altener IEE project. They were reconfirmed by the FRONT IEE project in 2016. Therefore, it is of the utmost urgency to unlock historic barriers to the mass deployment of RES HC solutions. This is the genesis of the GeoBOOST project.

Recent Developments

The RED and EED adopted in 2019 propose new measures on RES HC, and the updated versions REDIII and EED from 2021 reinforce some of these provisions to mainstream renewable energy in heating and cooling.

Project Objectives

The project will support the implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive and the Energy Efficiency Directive in the EU by allowing a market uptake of geothermal heating and cooling technologies.

Focus on Geothermal Heat Pumps

GeoBOOST will seek to unlock market barriers for geothermal heat pumps, as they are the most energy-efficient and cost-effective RES HC solution but have often been neglected by policymakers and also by the dedicated market uptake research proposals.