20 May 2026
GEOTHERMICA at World Geothermal Congress
The World Geothermal Congress 2026 (WGC2026) is one of the most important event in the global geothermal community, where researchers, policymakers, developers, and public authorities from all the world meet and discuss the advancement of geothermal energy.
The GEOTHERMICA Initiative will highlight the importance of international collaboration between public authorities to advance the deployment of geothermal energy through participation in five sessions at the WGC2026.
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Symposium on Geothermal Storage (UTES)
· 7 June 2026 · 12:30 · Glen Room 204 ·
Geothermal storage, also referred to as underground thermal energy storage (UTES) has great potential to decarbonise heating and cooling systems in cities. However, the deployment of geothermal storage across Europe and North America remains far below what the technology can deliver.
The Symposium on Geothermal Storage (UTES) brings together the researchers, city planners, and public authorities working to close that gap. The session addresses the technical, regulatory, and financial barriers that constrain geothermal storage (UTES) deployment and explores how coordinated knowledge exchange between countries can accelerate replication.
Geothermal storage (UTES) is one of the thematic focus areas of the GEOTHERMICA Initiative. GEOTHERMICA has organized several knowledge sharing events related to this topic, and is also developing a white paper on geothermal storage.
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Presentation on Advancing Geothermal Energy Through Strategic Financing and Policy Frameworks
· 8 June 2026 · 16:15 · Track 11, TELUS 103 ·
Insights from the GEOTHERMICA Initiative
This presentation shares results from GEOTHERMICA's coordinated funding calls, with a focus on the research impact delivered through intergovernmental cooperation. It demonstrates, with concrete evidence, what happens when public authorities align their priorities, coordinate their funding decisions, and mandate cross-border collaboration as a condition of support. The presentation makes the case that the joint call model is not only effective, it is replicable, and directly relevant to any national authority considering how to invest public resources in geothermal research and innovation.
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Advancing Resource Assessments for Underground Thermal Energy Storage (UTES)
· 9 June 2026 · 14:00 · Plenary Macleod E4 ·
This panel brings together international experts to discuss methods for assessing underground thermal energy storage resources at regional and national scales. Topics include suitability, capacity, performance, sustainability, risks, and uncertainty.
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Subsurface Sovereignty: Geothermal as a Strategic Priority
· 10 June 2026 · 10:45 · MacLeod Hall ·
The decision to develop geothermal resources is increasingly a political one, not just a technical or commercial one. Governments across Europe, North America and beyond are reassessing their subsurface assets, not only for energy production, but for strategic autonomy, energy security, and long-term climate commitments.
The panel session Subsurface Sovereignty: The Global Shift Toward Geothermal Energy brings together perspectives from public authorities and international stakeholders on what it means for a government to take ownership of geothermal development as a national and regional priority. GEOTHERMICA presents its cooperation model and Joint Call 2021 results in this context, as evidence that voluntary intergovernmental coordination can translate political commitment into funded research, and funded research into deployable knowledge.
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Dialogue on International Cooperation with Public Authorities
· 11 June 2026 · 12:15 · MacLeod E3 ·
The final session will be in the form of an informal dialogue between public authorities, funding organisations, policymakers, and international geothermal stakeholders. Participants will focus on a shared question: how do we strengthen the international cooperation frameworks that geothermal deployment genuinely requires?
Geothermal resources do not stop at national borders. Neither do the knowledge gaps, regulatory barriers, and investment risks that slow deployment. Cross-border cooperation, between governments, between research institutions, and between public and private actors, is not a nice-to-have. It is a structural requirement for scaling geothermal energy across Europe, North America and beyond.
This dialogue is an opportunity for GEOTHERMICA members and international partners to exchange perspectives, identify shared priorities, and strengthen the relationships that make future cooperation possible. Attendance is open to all WGC 2026 participants.
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The importance for GEOTHERMICA to be visible at the World Geothermal Congress
WGC 2026 is not only a scientific conference. It is an opportunity to position European and North American geothermal cooperation within a global context, to demonstrate that the model GEOTHERMICA has developed over more than a decade, a model built on trust, neutrality, and structured government partnership, is relevant to geothermal communities far beyond Europe.
The sessions GEOTHERMICA is contributing to in Calgary reflect the full breadth of the initiative's work: from applied thematic research on UTES, to funding coordination through joint calls, to high-level policy dialogue on geothermal as a sovereign energy resource.
For members attending WGC 2026, the 11 June Dialogue with Public Authorities offers an additional opportunity for direct exchange with the GEOTHERMICA Initiative Office and fellow member representatives. For those not attending, full event documentation will be shared through GEOTHERMICA's member communication channels following the congress.
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All five sessions are open to WGC 2026 participants. For more information, or to connect with the GEOTHERMICA Initiative Office in Calgary, contact info@geothermica.eu
Full agenda for the UTES Symposium and the 11 June Dialogue on International Collaboration are available at geothermica.eu/events.
