US geothermal power continues to grow in 2009

6 October 2009

The US showed strong growth in new geothermal power projects continuing through 2009, according to a new report by the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA).

The report, U.S. Geothermal Power Production and Development Update, September 2009 identifies 144 new geothermal projects under development in fourteen states that could represent as much as 7,100MW of new baseload power capacity. When added to the 3,100MW of existing capacity, 10GW of geothermal power appears to be feasible.

‘It is great to see that between March 2009 and September 2009 there was a continued increase in new geothermal projects,’ said Dan Jennejohn, the report’s author. ‘Interest in geothermal development continues to grow, with the number of projects up 50 per cent and megawatts under development nearly doubling over the past two years.’ He added, ‘In 2009, we are seeing new power projects being initiated as well as new applications, such as geothermal-hydrocarbon coproduction, being pursued.’

According to the report, US geothermal has the potential baseload power to supply about 20 per cent of California’s total electric power in 2008.

The number of states with geothermal projects under development also increased, from 12 to 14 over the past six months, with the addition of two oil-field co-production projects in Louisiana and Mississippi.

While the report shows generally good news, it also shows a decline in projects currently listed in ‘phase 4′, or under construction. According to GEA this was due to four new geothermal power projects moving to completion, but also reflects difficulty obtaining final permits and difficulty obtaining financing.

The recession, as the report confirms, is having an impact on the industry, according to GEA. ‘Financing is expensive and scarce, and available lenders are requiring much more work be done before they will finance projects,’ said Gawell. ‘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 added. ‘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.’

Copyright © 2009 NewNet

Tags: geothermal

This story was published on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 at 10:33 am and is filed under North America, companies, geothermal, knowledge. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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