The Andalusian Energy Agency held in Seville the workout ”Geothermal energy moves in Andalucia”, a forum made up of officials of this entity and geothermal energy industry representatives such as associations of manufacturers, installation companies and architects and engineers professional associations. In total, the event was attended by some fifty participants among which the National Association of Energy Services Companies (ANESE), the Association of Air Conditioning Equipment Manufacturers (AFEC) and numerous private companies were present.
The conference, a public initiative to support and monitor the implementation of geothermal energy in homes, businesses and public buildings in the community, has enabled to transfer to the sector information about public funding and help lines for geothermal installations intended for air conditioning in buildings, analyze new business opportunities associated with the geothermal market; study innovations experienced in materials, survey techniques, heat pumps, etc., and reinforce the public-private collaboration environment.
Meanwhile, some other participating entities addressed issues of great relevance to those involved in the development of geothermal
energy such as Thermal Response Test (TRT), technical tests to assess soil behavior to anticipate the energy output of the future installation or geothermal systems implementation through the participation of Energy Service Companies (ESCOs), papers presented by the companies Pilosur Geotermia and Gas Natural respectively.
Public support for geothermal energy
The Andalusian Energy Agency, has made a strong commitment to the incorporation of this renewable source in homes and businesses supporting its implementation with the Grant Program for Sustainable Energy Development ”Andalucía A +”. Thus, as presented at the meeting, between 2007 and 2012, the Regional Government has encouraged 63 geothermal power plants with nearly 1.1 million euros through incentives. The implementation of these systems has also enabled to generate activity in the sector worth 3.2 million euros. Specifically, in the first six months of 2012 more than 40 percent of the 63 projects supported by Andalusian public funding were approved.
The advantages of geothermal energy used as a renewable energy for domestic use against conventional technologies is that, in addition to not causing noise, lacking of architectural impact and preventing the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, it offers economical savings for the user of around 60 percent, compared with a conventional plant.
In Andalusia, according to data provided by the Andalusian Energy Agency in a study of the geothermal potential which is available on this web site, it is noteworthy that there is significant potential mainly in the vicinities of Granada, Seville and Cordoba, where the high population density makes it more profitable for its use in Air Conditioning.
