Opening new paths into geothermal energy

The European heating market is undergoing a structural transition toward decarbonisation, with heat pumps increasingly replacing fossil-fuel-based systems. In new residential buildings, air-to-water heat pumps dominate due to their low investment costs and ease of installation. In contrast, ground source heat pumps maintain a low and in some regions declining market share, despite their higher efficiency, longer lifetime, greater reliability, and positive impact on electricity grid stability. Market data from Germany, Switzerland, and across Europe show that high upfront costs, space limitations, and regulatory constraints, particularly related to drilling requirements, remain the main barriers to wider adoption of geothermal systems.This paper highlights the need for technological innovation to unlock the untapped potential of geothermal energy. It presents the separatus split-pipe technology, which significantly reduces borehole diameter, drilling costs, and space requirements while maintaining high thermal performance. A case study from Brussels demonstrates the successful application of this approach under highly constrained urban conditions. The results illustrate how innovation in geothermal access can enable wider deployment of ground source heat pumps and support a more efficient, resilient, and sustainable heat supply in the building sector.