“This is the first agreement that we have signed with a department.
I am very happy with this!
» Catherine Lagneau, president of the geological and mining research office (BRGM), did not hide her enthusiasm on January 26 during the signing of the 2023-2027 innovation and research agreement with the Loiret department.
This scientific partnership aims to strengthen knowledge of groundwater resources and geothermal potential.
Of course the national research establishment signs numerous agreements each year with communities (regions, metropolises, etc.), but with a department, this is unprecedented.
Marc Gaudet, president of the departmental council assures him, “we are in a department which can provide prospects in terms of geothermal energy and therefore the energies of the future”.
A territory which must be “both exemplary and a breeding ground for experimentation for us, for all our developments and scientific research linked to the subsoil”, insists Catherine Lagneau.
An ecological issue
For this research, the department is allocating an envelope of 30,000 euros in 2024. The BRGM should deliver an initial study on the potential of deep geothermal energy in the Loiret in the spring.
An important ecological and national sovereignty issue, recalls the president.
She also insists on the importance of better understanding the hydrological system of the Loiret because this “department will be particularly affected by the reduction in water resources”.
This agreement will make it possible to carry out scientific studies in order to find solutions for the controlled recharge of aquifers, “for all users, and the first of them, the farmers”, she concludes.