The World Geothermal Congress 2023 in Beijing

The World Geothermal Congress 2023 in Beijing was recently held earlier this month. It was last held in Reykjavík in 2020.

The three-day WGC 2023 was attended by more than 60 guests from Iceland, representing a number of Icelandic companies and institutions involved in the geothermal industry and green energy development. The Congress hosted 88 forums and seminars in parallel with technology and equipment exhibition.
The triennial conference is a leading global platform where leaders from industry, academia, the finance sector, governments, NGOs, and communities share the latest scientific and technological achievements and collaborate on solutions to build a sustainable society.

Iceland and China have a long-standing bilateral collaboration in the integration and use of geothermal energy in China. This collaboration was reiterated by both Iceland and China on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in December 2021.
Iceland´s presence was well marked at the Congress in Beijing.

At the Opening Session, the Prime Minister of Iceland, Ms. Katrín Jakobsdóttir, gave an address via video, where she underscored the importance of collaboration between Iceland and China and the importance of developing and utilizing geothermal energy as one of the alternatives to fossil fuels.  

Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, former President of Iceland, and Chairman of Arctic Circle Forum, visited the Congress as an honoured guest. He held a number of talks with government officials and organizations in support of bilateral geothermal collaboration and utilization. The former president has been one of the staunchest supporters of the geothermal collaboration between Iceland and China for many years. In a speech he gave at a reception at the Embassy of Iceland (in celebration of Icelandic-Chinese Geothermal Cooperation, the World Geothermal Congress 2023 and the Re-Opening of Arctic Green Energy New Office in Beijing) he marked on the great progress China has made in geothermal utilization and the interests and hopes concerning deepening and developing the Iceland-China collaboration even further.

The Embassy was pleased to assist those many Icelanders, Icelandic companies and institutions that attended the Congress. The Embassy also attended a number of meetings and gatherings in connection to the Congress and was very pleased to host with Arctic Green Energy an evening reception in honour of the Congress.