GEOTHERMAL GROWING FAST

U.S. Geothermal Power Production and Development Update
Dan Jennejohn, September 2009 (Geothermal Energy Association)

"The United States continues to lead the world.s countries in online geothermal energy capacity and continues to be one of the principal countries to increase its geothermal growth. In 2007 geothermal energy accounted for 4% of renewable energy-based electricity consumption in the United States.1 As of September 2009, geothermal electric power generation is occurring in eight U.S. states: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Other states, such as Oregon, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi are soon to be added to the list. As of October 2009, the United States has a total installed capacity of 3152.72 MW…"

click to enlarge

"The following results identify up to 6442.9 MW of new geothermal power plant capacity under development in the United States (this includes projects in the initial development phase)…Unconfirmed projects, some of which might be developed in the next few years, increase the potential capacity to 7109.9 MW. There are 14 states with projects currently under consideration or development: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Between confirmed and unconfirmed projects there are a total of 144 developing projects…

"As geothermal Technology progresses, resources that were once non-commercial are now being actively examined as feasible possibilities. The following are some of the more commonly discussed areas of future development…

"…[1] Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS)…[A]ny resource that requires artificial stimulation and includes resources that have to be fully engineered, or ones that produce hydrothermal fluid, but sub-commercially…[S]till a young and not fully proven technology…[2] Geothermal Hydrocarbon Co-production …[G]eothermal fluids are often found in oil and gas production fields as well as certain mining operations…"

click to enlarge

"…[3] Geopressured Geothermal Resources…[I]n addition to thousands of megawatts of geothermal energy, these resources hold as much as 1,000 TCF of potentially recoverable gas. Also, it is estimated that in Texas alone, there exists a total geopressured resource of 5,100 EJ…[4] Geothermal Heat Pumps...In the United States, the Geothermal Heat Pump industry has seen continuous growth over the last four years…[S]hipments increased by 36 percent to 86,396 units in 2007…[C]apacity shipped rose 19 percent…Although geothermal heat pumps tend to cost more initially than traditional heating and cooling systems, the high efficiency and ongoing cost-saving potential of geothermal heat pumps has resulted in them becoming more appealing…"