Regional action plan signed for geothermal in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

First meeting of geothermal stakeholders for the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France. From left to right: Thibaut HEIMERMANN, General Manager of the AVENIA cluster, Guillaume RIOU, Vice-President of the Regional Council in charge of energy transition, Vincent JECHOUX, Regional Director of the Environment, Planning and Housing of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Mathieu ANGLADE, Regional Director of ADEME (source: Sébastien Blanquet-Rivière – Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region)

The regional action plan for the development and structuring of geothermal energy in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in France has been officially presented during a meeting of geothermal stakeholders organized by the State (the regional prefecture and ADEME Nouvelle-Aquitaine), the Regional Council of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and the AVENIA geothermal cluster.

At the end of 2023, France’s Ministry of Energy Transition officially published the national action plan for the deployment of geothermal energy to meet the needs for renewable heating and cooling for individual and collective buildings in Mainland France. The action plan proposes 27 priority actions and 23 complementary actions aimed at accelerating the development of surface and deep geothermal energy.

The partnership agreement between the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME), the prefecture, and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region aimed to build a 3-year action plan (2024-2027) to develop the regional sector in line with the national action plan.

The objectives set out by the regional strategy plant for Nouvelle-Aquitaine establish a target of 3500 GWh of geothermal energy  output by 2030. In the tertiary and residential sectors alone, the cumulative energy consumption that could be replaced by geothermal energy is 27.9 TWh, or 16.5% of the total energy consumption in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. This would represent savings of 4,600 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

The general guidelines of the agreement that had been signed are as follows:

• Promote the creation of a regional ecosystem in favor of the development of geothermal energy.

• Train stakeholders in the surface and deep geothermal sector in Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

• Promote surface geothermal energy and deep geothermal energy.

• Encourage the development of the sector by improving knowledge and securing demand while financing surface and deep geothermal projects.

A regional ecosystem around the Avenia geothermal cluster is being created with the strengthening of the actions of the Odeys and Solténa cluster, the R3Tesna network at the research and development level, the regional representative of the French Association of Geothermal Professionals (AFPG), ADEME , the Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM), as well as the Local Energy and Climate Agency (Alec) and the Regional Renewable Energy Center (CRER).

The Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region is already considered a pioneer in equipping high schools with geothermal heating – 11 high schools already have geothermal heating systems, 5 more are under construction, and 3 more are being studied. The region had set a budget of EUR 196 million for 2022-2028 to invest on renewable energy development with priority given to geothermal.

As part of the regional geothermal development plan, the State, via ADEME , has financed 71 feasibility studies and 31 investment projects for a total of 7.9 million in aid in 2024.

All of these actions help to structure the sector to make it attractive and recognized throughout the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. On June 19 and 20, 2025, the national geothermal days will be held in Biarritz, organized by the AFPG with the Avenia cluster and ADEME as partners.

Source: Nouvelle-Aquitaine