On 4 March 2024, at the PDAC convention in Toronto, Uzbekistan’s Deputy Minister of Mining Industry and Geology Azam Kadirhodjaev and BRGM Deputy Director General Christophe Poinssot signed a memorandum of understanding that sets a framework for scientific and technical cooperation, BRGM announced on 4 April 2024. BRGM is France’s national geological survey.
The agreement covers training, joint research and exchange of experience. Its themes include hydrogeology and water protection, mineral resources, geological mapping, the environmental impact of exploration, geothermal energy and CO₂ storage, and flood and seismic risk.
Why France
France heats whole districts with deep geothermal water from sedimentary basins. At the end of 2025 it had 73 deep geothermal systems and about 209,000 shallow ones, together producing 7.1 TWh of heat, according to BRGM, with deep development concentrated in the Paris and Aquitaine basins. Much of Uzbekistan’s hydrothermal resource also sits in sedimentary artesian basins, such as Bukhara–Karshi, which makes the French experience directly relevant.
