Ireland's GEMINI programme has outlined plans to move the island's geothermal sector from demonstration projects toward repeatable commercial investment, a milestone that matters for developers, heat users and investors assessing when Irish geothermal becomes a bankable asset class rather than a research exercise.

GEMINI is a cross-border geothermal research programme funded through the EU's PEACEPLUS programme, the Government of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Executive, bringing together 15 partners in a €20 million initiative running through 2028.

Geothermal Association of Ireland is the Dublin-based national trade body for Ireland's geothermal industry, affiliated with the European Geothermal Energy Council.

European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) is the Brussels-based trade association representing the European geothermal industry and co-organised the Dublin workshop where GEMINI presented its progress.

GEMINI's Aoife Braiden said procurement experience, geological models and training materials will be shared so future projects don't have to start from the same point, adding: "Everything is going to be made available. That's the key bit to getting the next project up and running." She asked what organisation would become the next champion willing to take geothermal into commercial or institutional use.

GEMINI's approach treats commercial replicability as a deliverable in its own right, not a byproduct of successful demonstrations, reflecting the reality that Ireland currently has no established geothermal development market where new projects can follow existing precedent.

That gap is already attracting institutional attention beyond GEMINI itself: the European Investment Bank separately announced technical and financial advisory support in October 2025 to help Ireland develop district heating systems, signalling international financiers see the country's heat sector as underserved rather than uninvestable.

Braiden's framing of grid capacity as part of the investment case matters commercially: geothermal coupled with heat pumps can deliver more thermal output per unit of electricity than direct electric heating, a distinction increasingly relevant for large heat users such as data centres facing their own grid connection constraints.

For the sector, whether GEMINI succeeds will be measured less by its demonstration sites than by whether a private sector champion, a hospital, large employer or public body, commits to the first fully commercial Irish geothermal project once the programme concludes in 2028.

Source: ThinkGeoEnergy / The Insight Partners