PIROS: geothermal energy in the service of the Pyrenees — and what this European project means for the partner universities

A cross-border project to harness geothermal energy

Led by the Universitat de Barcelona and funded under the Interreg POCTEFA 2021-2027 programme (specific objective "research and innovation capacities"), the PIROS project (April 2026 – March 2029, budget of around €1.63 million, 63% of which is ERDF funding) aims to assess, integrate and valorise geothermal energy as a renewable source in the cross-border mountain areas of Spain, Andorra and France. Its overall goal is to develop a methodology for determining the geothermal potential of the Pyrenean hydrothermal systems — the region's many hot springs — with a view to their sustainable exploitation, whether for electricity generation, heating or other direct uses.

Cross-border cooperation is not an option but a scientific necessity: hydrothermal systems straddle national borders and are controlled by shared geological structures. PIROS deploys an unprecedented interdisciplinary methodology combining geological, hydrogeological and geophysical studies (Action 4) with a historical, socio-economic and social-acceptability analysis (Action 3), leading to a resource-exploitation protocol (Action 5). All results will be digitised and integrated into POCTEFA platforms. The consortium brings together six partners — UB (lead), Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS (Occitanie Est delegation), the Institut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya, Andorra Recerca i Innovació and the Consell Comarcal de l'Alt Urgell — supported by twelve associated entities, including energy companies (L'Energètica, FEDA) and territorial administrations. The project targets 18 organisations cooperating across borders and aims to durably strengthen scientific cooperation, energy sovereignty and climate change mitigation in the Pyrenees, with explicit attention to gender equality and citizen science (schools, local population).

What the project means for the partner universities

For the consortium's universities and research bodies, PIROS represents far more than ERDF funding (65% of eligible costs, the rest self-financed). It entails first a massive staffing commitment: staff budgets exceed 50% of the total, with each partner guaranteeing at least 35% of its own personnel — geologists, geophysicists, hydrogeologists, hydrogeochemists, geochronologists, historians and economists working cross-border. It means second the training of new experts with an integrative vision in a field — mountain geothermal energy — where skills are scarce. And it ultimately provides institutional and territorial anchoring: universities work alongside local authorities and companies, co-building applicable results (protocols, FAIR data, publications) and joining durable European networks beyond the project's end — a strategic asset for internationalisation and rankings.

Focus on Université Paris-Saclay

Université Paris-Saclay, through its Geosciences Paris-Saclay laboratory, is the consortium's second-largest budget holder: €350,329 in eligible costs (21.5% of the project), including €227,701 in ERDF funding. Its scientific contribution is central: its teams bring the unique expertise combining hydrogeology, hydrogeochemistry and hydrogeochronology — the disciplines underpinning activity 4.2, the study of the hot-spring hydrogeological system — which bridges the geological studies and the deep-reservoir modelling, and directly feeds the geothermal-potential assessment of Action 5. Paris-Saclay builds on established international experience with the UB on the Vallès geothermal system (Catalonia) and on hydrological projects in Africa. The project is led by Prof. Antonio Benedicto, with Eline Gouteron (European affairs) handling the administrative side.

For the university, the benefits are threefold: positioning in a forward-looking field (geothermal energy and energy transition) within a European Interreg programme; consolidation of a long-term research partnership with the UB, CNRS and Pyrenean stakeholders; and the production of academically valuable data and publications, while contributing concretely to local energy policies in the study areas. PIROS thus enables Paris-Saclay to combine academic excellence, European cooperation and societal impact.

To go further :

Inici - PIROS research project - Projectes de recerca

Contact :  antonio.benedicto@universite-paris-saclay.fr