The European Geological Service (EuroGeoSurvey - EGS), which represents geological services across Europe, held a meeting at the RINGEN Research Centre in Litoměřice from 7 to 10 April 2025. During the workshop, more than fifty participants discussed the further progress of the work, identified current issues and presented the results achieved. The meeting served to synchronise the efforts of the participating experts from twenty-three countries, who are working on the project year-round online.
EGS plays a key role in providing expert geological information and services to the European Union and is becoming an increasingly important partner for European institutions, primarily the European Commission. Currently, EGS is developing the project "Geological Service for Europe - GSEU" which is pushing the cooperation of European geological services to a new level since 2022. The Litoměřice meeting focused on all three main pillars into which the project is divided, i.e. the area of own research, provision of expert information and communication with stakeholders, in particular with representatives of the European political scene, European industry and the general public.
The meeting included not only an evaluation of the current status of the project implementation over the last year, but also the planning of one of the key activities of the Geo Energy Expert Group - GEEG. This group is primarily concerned with geothermal energy, but also with inter-seasonal heat storage or CCS technology, i.e. carbon capture & storage. Underground hydrogen storage is also one of the topics addressed.
Activities within this group focus on the collection of data from national catalogues and making it available, with the Czech Republic and Hungary jointly leading this part of the project. Another part is dedicated to their analysis and the creation of a new European atlas of geothermal reservoirs, potential CO₂ storage and shallow geothermal resources. The aim is to identify promising areas and potential reservoirs for these technologies.
Lukáš Janků, Vice-Chair of the GEEG Expert Group, explained how the collaboration of experts from so many different countries works: "Most of the expert work is done online during the year, the yearly meetings are more for strategic planning and addressing key challenges."
Each National Geological Survey has its own data. The GSEU project seeks to link these data and create new analyses based on them. One of the main challenges is to make this valuable data, which is often fragmented and difficult to trace in national repositories, more accessible. It has cost a significant amount of money to acquire it, so it is essential to make it easily accessible and usable.
"In addition to linking existing data, the project is creating a new analytical layer that will provide a harmonised view of geoenergy potential across Europe. This European atlas will be a valuable tool for policy decisions and for investors looking for development opportunities in this area", adds Lukáš Janků.
The good news is that the data produced by the GSEU project will be publicly available through the EGDI (European Geological Data Infrastructure) portal. The first atlas layers have already been published in a test environment and should be fully publicly available in the near future. Although the primary language of the data is English, the portal website should offer language versions, including Czech.
Communication with the public is also an important part of the project. By presenting information in an understandable way, it is possible to avoid unnecessary concerns and to gain support for new technologies using the rock environment, such as geothermal energy sources. There is a work group within GSEU dedicated to popularising information and raising awareness on geological topics. Different ways of presenting data, including graphical designs, are currently being tested to make the information accessible to the lay public.
In conclusion, the GSEU meeting at the RINGEN Research Centre was an important step in deepening cooperation between European geological services in the field of geoenergy.
EuroGeoSurveys (EGS) has a long history going back some 50 years, with a dynamic evolution over the last 10 to 15 years as new members join and its portfolio expands. The EGSU project, which has been ongoing since 2022, will be completed in August 2027, by which time all parts of the Atlas should be closed. The total cost of €23.2 million is funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe programme. The European Geological Survey itself is expected to continue to operate, and its future funding and priorities are currently being discussed in relation to the needs of the European Union.
European Geological Data Infrastructure website: https://www.europe-geology.eu
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