On 18 February 2026, the TRANSGEO partners met in Vienna with MEP Anna Stürgkh and Stefan Gara, Member of the Federal Council of Vienna, alongside Austrian geothermal industry stakeholders and Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE representatives. The aim was to place TRANSGEO’s results in the wider EU and national energy-policy debate and to discuss what still holds geothermal energy back, especially when reusing abandoned oil and gas wells.
The exchange showed strong political interest, but also a clear message from practitioners: the main barriers are now mostly non-technical. Even where the know-how exists, projects can stall because rules are unclear and procedures take too long. Participants agreed that clearer and more coherent regulation, combined with faster national implementation of EU legislation, could cut time and uncertainty without waiting for new technological breakthroughs.
TRANSGEO also showed what it has delivered in practical terms. The project has developed guidance and tools that help developers and authorities understand local underground conditions and navigate permitting more smoothly. This reduces uncertainty early on, which can save time and lower risk. A follow-up example from Groß Schönebeck (Germany) illustrated the leverage effect: investment has already been triggered, and a geothermal heating application is expected to become operational by mid-2026.
The visit also highlighted the role of the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE Programme, with the City of Vienna as Managing Authority, in turning tested solutions into wider uptake. By bringing research, public bodies and industry into direct dialogue with policymakers, the programme helps move from pilot results to practical improvements in policy and implementation.
As a next step, MEP Anna Stürgkh invited the partnership to provide concrete inputs for EU-level discussions on geothermal energy and on how Interreg results can better feed into policy and decision-making.