The renowned lecturers of the geothermal energy short course were Prof Michael Heap from the Strasbourg Institute of Earth and Environment (ITES) (France) and Dr Alexandra Kushnir from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland). Other lecturers and guides on that course were Alan Bischoff, Jon Engström, Satu Vuoriainen, Toni Luoto and Jukka Kuva from the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK).

According to Heikki Bauert and Rasmus Kont from the Geological Survey of Estonia (EGT), who participated in the course on-site it was a great success – about 30 people participated in person, and another 60 attended online, many from Finland and Estonia but also from other countries. The general objective of these courses was to improve the knowledge on the rock petrophysical characteristics for geothermal energy studies. Especially important was the course for the participants from the Geological Survey of Estonia (EGT) as geothermal energy is a relatively new area of research as well as in wider commercial exploitation in Estonia.

EGT geologists and geothermal energy experts Heikki Bauert and Rasmus Kont attended this 3-day course series from the EGT. Rasmus Kont was very pleased with how the course was organised: “The first day was packed with important and well-presented lectures about geothermal energy. For me the most interesting topics were about perspective alternative uses for geothermal reservoirs and, of course, the geothermal potential of altered and fractured crystalline rocks, as we in Estonia are only starting to look deeper into our own crystalline rocks when it concerns the potential harvesting of geothermal energy from deep sources.” He added: “Naturally, visiting the GTK rock lab on the second day of the course was an eye-opening experience. We had lots to learn on how to, perhaps one day, equip our own perspective rock lab at EGT for geothermal energy research.”

The last day of the course was reserved for the field trip to the coast, to the Kopparnäs area. It was a sum-up and consolidation of knowledge gained from the previous lectures and lab visits. “When it comes to geology and exploitation of geothermal energy, then out on the field, you can see how much more complex everything is compared to textbook or lecture examples,” narrated Heikki Bauert. He added: “It is difficult to make assumptions and generalisations on natural processes based solely on the lab data – you must know and understand the big geological picture as it occurs in nature. Interestingly, the same crystalline rocks we looked at and studied in Finland are also present in Estonia. However, they are buried below thick sedimentary cover – our national pride – the limestones, for example. Therefore, these lectures and field excursions in Finland were quite valuable for us at EGT.” 

Both geologists agreed that EGT, as relatively new in geothermal energy research, could benefit from future cooperation with GTK when it comes to starting the implementation of research and exploitation methods the Finnish have already been using for many years.