Non-Technical Barriers of Geothermal Projects

Abstract

This paper will deal with the question of analysis and comparison of countries, with respect to their investment environment for geothermal projects.
For the World Bank and the German Federal Ministry for Environment Rödl & Partner developed a benchmark system, that allows the evaluation and analysis of the economic, legal, administrative (and geo-technical) conditions of countries for the implementation of geothermal projects. The benchmark matrix was developed on the base of Hungary; within the project the comparison with Germany was conducted.
Possible barriers for any geothermal project are similar in all countries world-wide. The analytic approach in the aforementioned fields showed non-technical (and non-geological) barriers that substantially inhibit the further development of the geothermal market, for instance in the investment volume in Hungary.
As results recommendations have been given to the Hungarian Government, for how the investment security and in a wider sense the investment environment can be improved substantially in Hungary. A wider approach, leads usually to the question of possible subsidy systems and a possible nation-wide geological risk insurance (how it was already implemented in Germany).
The EU-financed project GEOFAR (Rödl & Partner is a member) aims at the development of an EU-wide solution to lower the barrier (geological risk) of geothermal projects in Europe.