GEO-ENERGY EUROPE: Providing Geo-Energy SMEs Better Access to Export Markets Outside Europe

Abstract

Background and context: Europe is a leading continent in geoscience and subsurface engineering, but has a limited level of integration between different subsurface industries. It also has limited visibility in worldwide geothermal markets, which are currently expanding. The geothermal value chain in many European countries contains a large number of Small- to Medium- Enterprises (SME)s with specialised know-how, but lacks coordination when accessing markets outside Europe. GEO-ENERGY EUROPE (GEE) is a EU-COSME Program (Competitiveness for small and Medium Enterprises) supported project under the “Clusters Go International” call for projects. This 2-year capacity-building program aims to create a European Strategic Cluster Partnership in geo-energy and to develop a joint internationalisation strategy to help our SMEs access worldwide geothermal markets. Started in 2018, GEE has brought together eight European clusters from France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Spain and Turkey, representing 600 members including 300+ SMEs into a meta-cluster that provides a platform for know-how and technology transfers, marketing, export strategy and other networking services. GEE is an important tool for our European SMEs, providing access to key international markets. This presentation will focus on the importance of knowledge and expertise transfer within geo-energy industries. We’ll also describe the joint internationalisation strategy and roadmap conceived by GEE, and the role of European SMEs in contributing to the industrial deployment and market uptake of sustainable & decarbonised geo-energy.