In his general policy statement made to the National Assembly last week, the French Prime Minister Jean-François Bayrou stated he believes that geothermal, along with nuclear energy, will be important elements for the country’s low-carbon strategy towards the energy transition.
The Prime Minister said during his address, “Ecology is not the problem. This is the solution. The effort to be made on this crucial subject, this adaptation, France has started it better than any country in the world. For me, this is a priority, an ardent obligation that must be pursued and expanded: plan the transition by finalising our low-carbon strategy; preserving our biodiversity; to produce, but in a carbon-free way, thanks to new technologies.
“I am thinking in particular of our energy policy. This policy has one goal: carbon-free energy accessible to all. To achieve this, nuclear is an essential axis, and geothermal energy, an inexhaustible reservoir of free calories under our feet, is also an essential one.”
The French Association of Geothermal Professionals expressed their support for the Prime Minister’s statement via social media, commenting, “These words can only encourage all players in the geothermal sector to continue their daily action for the development of this carbon-free solution capable of producing heating and cooling in our buildings.”
In December 2023, France’s Ministry of Energy Transition published the finalised action plan to accelerate the development of the geothermal energy sector with the aim to support the development of the clean energy source to meet renewable heating and cooling targets for individual and collective buildings in the country. The plan is made up of 27 priority actions and 23 complementary actions aligned to eight different geothermal axes from regulatory framework to raising awareness and skillsets. The full plan can be found via this link.