Installed Geothermal Capacity
From Open Energy Information
Installed Geothermal Capacity
Throughout the world geothermal energy is looked at as a potential source of renewable base-load power. As of 2005 there was 8,933 MW of installed power capacity within 24 countries. The International Geothermal Association (IGA) reported 55,709 GWh per year of geothermal electricity. The generation from 2005 to 2010 increased to 67,246 GWh, representing a 20% increase in the 5 year period. The IGA has projected that by 2015 the new installed capacity will reach 18,500 MW, nearly 10,000 MW greater than 2005. [1]
Countries with the greatest increase in installed capacity (MW) between 2005 and 2010[2]
- United States - 530 MW
- Indonesia - 400 MW
- Iceland - 373 MW
- New Zealand - 193 MW
- Turkey - 0 62 MW.
Countries with the greatest increase in % installed capacity between 2005 and 2010[2]
- German - 2,774%
- Papua-New Guinea - 833%
- Australia - 633%
- Turkey - 308%
- Iceland - 184%
Even though the installed capacity had grown nearly 20% between 2005 and 2010, the countries that have projects under development increased at an even higher rate. There were 46 countries that werew considering geothermal power development in 2007, and in 2010 70 countries had geothermal projects that were either under development or under consideration. In Europe and Africa geothermal development had increased from 10 to 24 countries in that same 3 year period. Much of the added development and reconstruction efforts in Europe and Africa came from ARGeo and the European Bank. [1]
Even though development of geothermal has increased at a significant rate over the years, there is still a significant amount of geothermal development that could be made when looking at geothermal resources purely from a technical standpoint. In 1999 there were 39 different countries that were identified as having geothermal resources that had the potential to meet 100% of their current electricity needs and of those only 9 (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Iceland, Indonesia, Kenya, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines) have had any significant power power production from geothermal. The 2010 market report did however, identify an additional 14 countries that had geothermal projects under consideration. [1]
The expansion of geothermal electricity production across the world has shown that the majority of the growth potential is coming from areas which currently have little to no geothermal power. An increase in technology developments such as EGS and technologies that can take advantage of lower temperature resources are key to utilizing as much of the geothermal resources as possible. EGS and lower temperature resources make up a large percentage of the worlds geothermal resources, and surpass the current hydrothermal resource potential. [1]
See Also: Map of Low Temperature Direct Use Geothermal Facilities
View the data behind this map.