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Organized by White Paper Consulting, the event brought together government and European Union officials, industry executives and professional organizations representing more than 25 countries and 100 companies, according to the organizer.
Opening the conference, István Bart, Hungary’s deputy state secretary for electrification and decarbonization, gave his first public remarks on the new government’s energy strategy regarding geothermal resources.
“Hungary needs an energy and water revolution,” Bart said, arguing that the old dilemma of choosing between green and affordable energy was outdated. He stressed that regulatory stability attracts capital, while unpredictable policy changes discourage investment.
Marit Brommer, CEO of the International Geothermal Association, said geothermal energy should be treated as strategic infrastructure essential to meeting climate goals.
“Phasing out fossil fuels means we’ll have to cover 80 per cent of our energy consumption from other sources. That’s a huge amount of energy, and solar panels with battery storage alone won’t be enough to provide it,” she said.
Miklós Antics, president of the European Geothermal Energy Council, highlighted the range of technologies already available to developers.
“We have all the technologies we need, from depths of 5 metres all the way down to 5 kilometres,” he said, adding that geothermal resources offer substantial potential for district heating and electricity generation across much of Europe.
Marianna Jakab, a policy officer at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy, said geothermal energy could meet 30% of Europe’s district heating needs by 2050, 10-25% of total heating and cooling demand, and at least 10% of electricity consumption.
Effective implementation of existing EU regulations would be crucial to development, she said. Priorities for member states include improving data availability, making projects financeable and widening access to capital.
Tatiana Mindeková, a policy adviser at energy think tank Ember, described the continued absence of a common European geothermal strategy as a missed opportunity.
Participants pointed to Iceland as an example of how consistent government policy, regulation and risk sharing can support investment. They also stressed that projects require different types of financing at different stages.
Árni Magnússon, CEO of Iceland GeoSurvey, recalled Iceland’s shift from fossil fuels following the oil crisis. Geothermal energy now heats more than 90% of Icelandic households, he said, suggesting that European countries could pursue similar progress through approaches including innovative exploration of lower-temperature resources.
The summit also highlighted projects already underway in Hungary.
Gábor Molnár, managing director of Arctic Green Engineering Services, and Péter Gyöpös, a project manager at the company, discussed practical experience gained from the geothermal system implemented in Csömör.
Sándor Tiszavári, technical director at Rotaqua, and Gergely Domonkos Horváth, CEO of MVM Zöld Generáció, presented the deep-drilling project near Kiskunhalas and Zsana. The development is intended to create Hungary’s first hybrid geothermal system combining electricity generation and heat utilization.
Regional speakers also discussed opportunities in district heating, electricity generation and industrial applications. Beata Kępińska, president of the Polish Geothermal Society, Alexandra Ban, president of the Romanian Geoexchange Society, and Martina Tuschl, head of geothermal energy at the Croatian Hydrocarbons Agency, emphasized the importance of long-term government support, regulatory modernization and use of the EU emissions trading system.
The discussion drew parallels with the position of solar and wind energy two decades ago, suggesting that initial support could help geothermal technologies become competitive without subsidies.
Integrating geothermal resources into existing district heating networks remains a challenge in Hungary.
Krisztina Hegedüs, head of the district heating supervision and price regulation department at the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority, said Hungarian district heating providers must submit 10-year development plans for the first time this year. These must assess the potential for renewable energy, waste heat, and combined heat and power generation.
Speakers noted that Hungary’s older district heating infrastructure was designed to operate at very high temperatures, making it difficult to integrate lower-temperature geothermal solutions. The relatively long payback periods of such investments further reinforce the need for sustained policy support and predictable regulation.
Participants also explored applications beyond heating, including cooling food storage facilities and supplying electricity to data centers.
The conference’s discussions identified accessible data, appropriate financing and long-term policy commitments as central to turning geothermal resources into a larger component of the energy supply.
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