Thursday 31 March 2016

Global Geothermal Energy Market to Exhibit 23.58% CAGR during 2013-2019 Owing to Approval of New National Plants

With the surging demand for renewable energy, the global geothermal energy market is witnessing an impressive growth. The market is anticipated to take a leap at a CAGR of 23.58% between the period 2013 and 2019. Regulatory support, cost competitive tariffs, excellent scalability, and high capacity utilization have propelled the growth of the global geothermal energy market. Introduction of new technologies such as binary cycle technology to harness the geothermal energy economically will further drive the demand for the market. The overall market was worth US$2.5 bn in 2013 and is estimated to be valued at US$8.9 bn by 2019.


Countries Focus on Development of Geothermal Power Plants to Meet Energy Demand

Among the key regions in the global geothermal energy market, Asia Pacific dominates the market in terms of installed capacity. As the region has several unexplored geothermal sites, it holds an immense potential for the growth of the overall geothermal energy market. In Europe, countries such as Iceland and Italy have been obtaining a major part of their power requirement from geothermal resources. Hence, the market is estimated to be stagnant in this region. 
 
  • Two New Power Plants Coming Up in Kenya: Though geothermal energy can be found across in the world, it is economically viable particularly in those regions where the earth’s crust is very thin and the steam comes out easily. Kenya is one such country where the earth’s crust is thin, thereby leading to easy access to hot rocks below. In Olkaria, two new geothermal energy production units had been installed last year. This has increased the country’s production of geothermal energy to 609 MW. Kenya is the world’s eighth-largest geothermal producer. With a number of potential geothermal sites scattered across the Rift Valley, the country has a potential to produce 10,000 MW of geothermal energy.
  • California Approves Development of New Geothermal Plant in Salton Sea: In California, the renewable energy portfolio has a standard requirement that 50% of all energy procured by utilities must be derived from renewable energy sources by the end of 2030. Accordingly, the development of a new geothermal power plant in the Salton Sea in Southern California has been approved by the Imperial Irrigation District this month. The Imperial Irrigation District is the third-largest public power provider in the country. Once developed, the new geothermal production unit is anticipated to produce up to 250 MW of renewable energy. In the future, the production capacity of this unit is expected to reach 375 MW. The power plant is expected to be fully operational by 2020.
Even though the installation of a geothermal plant is capital intensive, the demand for geothermal energy will increase, as a number of countries are expected to approve projects to harness the energy in the near future.

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