• Once upon a time…

IGA History

The first idea to create an organization devoted to development and promotion of geothermal energy dates back to the 1960s. During the Symposium on Geothermal Energy that took place in Pisa, Italy in September 1970, initiated by UN-DTCD (United Nations Department of Technical Cooperation for Development) and organized by ENEL and CNR it was for the first time officially discussed to create such association. However, back than this decision was postponed because oil prices were very low and only few countries were involved in geothermal research, mainly scientist from Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, USA and Soviet Union.

Still, the idea was discussed further during the World Geothermal Congress in San Francisco, 1975 and International Geothermal Workshop in Ecuador, 1978. The increase in oil prices caused an increased interest in the geothermal sector.

In 1986 an Ad-hoc international committee was formed to study the institutional aspects of a possible international geothermal association. It included experts from Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and USA. The study was completed in 1987 and after consultation with experts from 40 countries, international institutions and geothermal schools, it was obvious there was a need for an autonomous and unique geothermal organization. Finally, on 6 July, 1988 in Auckland, New Zealand the International Geothermal Association Inc. was registered.

IGA Today

Today the IGA is the world’s largest and unique International Geothermal Association that promotes and contributes to the geothermal development worldwide. For more than 30 years, we’ve been serving the Global Geothermal Community and encouraging the use of geothermal energy throughout the world.

As defined in the Charter of the Association, our objectives are to encourage and facilitate scientific and technical education in geothermal matters worldwide through the publication of scientific and technical information among the geothermal specialists, business community, governmental representatives, UN organizations, civil society and the general public.

Our aims are to promote the coordination of activities related to geothermal research, development and utilization. Being a scientific, educational and cultural organization with non-political, non-profit and non-governmental status, we are aiming at introducing geothermal to the world as one of the main renewable sources.

The current IGA Headquarters are located in Bonn, Germany.

Download IGA Brochure

Welcome to the World of Geothermal (pdf, 2.4MB)