the geothermal market | France

1.1 Introduction

The geothermal energy is the use of the natural heat of the soils or water tables as a means of heating or power generation ( electric mainly). Collectors are buried, connected to a boiler to generate constant heat to heat a home in winter and cool it in summer. The ground temperature is, for example, at a depth of 60 cm, constantly at 14°. It is also necessary to differentiate between several types of geothermal exploitation: shallow geothermal energy at low temperature, deep geothermal energy at high temperature and very deep geothermal energy at high temperature. There is also high energy, low energy and very low energy geothermal energy.

Geothermal energy provides less than 4% of heat production in France and 5% of electricity production . France's potential for geothermal energy production is more than 3,000 MW of geothermal electricity, which is a significant figure. This market gathers about a hundred companies in France and more than 15,000 jobs in energy companies but also in geothermal specialists.

Despite tax credits, the geothermal market is slow to take off in the residential . Major projects collectives are however in preparation, particularly in the Ile de France region where a geothermal heating programme should enable 500,000 people to be heated by 2020. The geothermal market was down 7% in the heat pump segment in 2017, but the recovery of the new housing market could boost this market segment in the coming years.

The significant drop in the tax credit and the relative technical complexity of a geothermal installation explain the relative sluggishness of this market. EDF and GDF/Suez offer installation services through a network of heating contractors but do not have dedicated internal structures.