CROWDTHERMAL: A new project for innovative population-driven financing solutions

GEOPLAT is proud to announce its participation in CROWDTHERMAL. The financing of this project is part of the Social Challenge 3 “SAFE, CLEAN AND EFFICIENT ENERGY”, which is part of the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Union (HORIZON2020-LC-SC3-2018-2019-2020).

The overall objective of CROWDTHERMAL is to achieve an innovative media-driven approach that facilitates the raising of crowdfunding capital for the (co-)financing of geothermal projects in Europe. The consortium aims to create new financial tools and services, with their corresponding communication strategies, covering the different types of geothermal resources, also addressing environmental problems in different socio-geographical environments.

The CROWDTHERMAL project, which has already been approved by the European Commission, will develop EU funding solutions (based on crowfunding) that support geothermal development, complementing traditional funding instruments and involving future users in thermal energy investments and decision-making mechanisms. The consortium is made up of 10 partners spread over 8 countries (Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Netherlands, Hungary, Iceland and Spain) and led by the European Association of Geologists (EFG). The CROWDTHERMAL project will officially start next autumn 2019, with a total budget of 2.3 million euros.

In GEOPLAT we lead the Work Package dedicated to the case studies, in which a protocol will be developed for the evaluation of the case studies, as well as the analysis and final assessment of them. The objective of this Work Package is to provide a deep understanding of the possibilities of community financing solutions in order to develop strategies for social commitment, alternative financing and risk mitigation.