The Geothermal Days (Journées de la géothermie), organised by the French Association of Geothermal Professionals (AFPG), took place on 9 and 10 June 2022 in Aix-les-Bains, France and brought together more than 300 people. The event highlighted islands, and in particular Guadeloupe, with its power plant and its future Caribbean Centre of Excellence on Geothermal Energy (CECG).
The opening plenary session consisted of a round table on the theme of “geothermal energy, an energy of our territories”.
Exchanges and feedback were held between :
- Julien Laffont, Regional Council of Guadeloupe
- Yann WEHRLING, Île-de-France Region
- Charles Fournier, Centre-Val de Loire Region
- Alexandre DOZIERES, Directorate General for Energy and Climate
- Benedicte GENTHON, ADEME
A video was shown during the opening plenary session to illustrate the experience of the implementation and development of the Bouillante geothermal power plant in Guadeloupe. Mr Laffont referred in particular to the historical support for the development of geothermal energy by the institutions (Ministry, Region, ADEME etc.); he recalled that this support is currently continuing with the setting up of the CECG.
The following day, during session #3 of conferences, organised in particular on the theme of “Economy, competitiveness and jobs”, Philippe Laplaige, geothermal expert at ADEME, presented the context and the state of progress of the creation of the CECG. He reminded the audience that the CECG would have a dual role: that of a hub for all the actors concerned by the development of geothermal energy in the Caribbean region and that of a resource centre (R&D support, organisation of training courses, workshops, seminars, dissemination of information and best practices, etc.).