Report: New Projects Could Bring U.S. Geothermal Capacity to More Than 10 GW
New geothermal projects representing as much as 7,100 MW of new baseload capacity were under development in 14 U.S. states between March and September 2009. When added to the 3,100 MW of existing capacity, these could bring U.S. geothermal capacity to more than 10 GW, a new report from the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) shows.
The report, U.S. Geothermal Power Production and Development Update, September 2009 (PDF), found a total of 144 projects under development could add between 4,699.9 MW and 7,109.9 MW of power to the U.S. geothermal energy output. Oregon had 13 projects (an increase from 317.2 MW to 368.2 MW); Utah had 10 projects (272.4 MW to 332.4 MW); Alaska had six projects (70 MW to 115 MW); and Idaho had five (238 MW to 326 MW). The association documented single projects in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Washington State.
"Interest in geothermal development continues to grow, with the number of projects up 50% and megawatts under development nearly doubling over the past two years," said Dan Jennejohn, the report’s author.
Jennejohn added that the association saw new applications being initiated as well as new projects in 2009. For example, it identified five projects using geothermal hydrocarbon coproduction (GHCP), a technology that extracts geothermal fluids from oil and gas production fields and in mining operations.
The report also showed a decline in projects currently under construction, however. According to GEA this was due to four new geothermal power projects moving to completion, but it also reflected difficulty obtaining final permits and difficulty obtaining financing.
"Financing is expensive and scarce, and available lenders are requiring much more work be done before they will finance projects," noted Karl Gawell, GEA’s Executive Director. "We hope the tax, loan guarantee, and DOE spending provisions of the stimulus bill will help turn this around, but there have been delays implementing these initiatives by the federal agencies."
"It also appears that some projects seeking final construction permits are having difficulty acquiring them because of the tremendous demands being placed on federal, state, and local agencies by a wave of renewable energy project applications," Gawell noted. "These geothermal projects would otherwise be ‘ready to go’ bringing new jobs and spurring economic growth," he stressed. "So it’s important that federal and state agencies don’t neglect the needs of geothermal projects."
Source: Geothermal Energy Association