4000 Megawatts of US Geothermal Power in Development, Sector Has Grown by 20% This Year
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 08.22.08
photo: Calpine
There’s been a good deal of geothermal energy news in the past few weeks—less than solar and wind perhaps, but that’s more a function of publicity and popularity rather than the potential of the resource—and the latest US Geothermal Power Production and Development Update from the Geothermal Energy Association shows just how much geothermal power has grown so far this year.
New Developments Will Nearly Double Current Capacity
According to the new report, geothermal power has grown by 20% since January of this year, with 103 project currently underway in 13 states for a combined capacity of nearly 4,000 megawatts. The GEA says when completed these projects will be able to meet the electric needs of about 4 million homes.
Currently, installed geothermal power capacity in the United States is nearly 3,000 megawatts, with 2555 MW of that in California alone.
California, Nevada Lead the Way
By state, this is what’s on tap geothermally: Alaska, 5 projects/53-100 MW; Arizona 2/2-20 MW; California 21/928-1037 MW; Colorado 1/10 MW; Florida 1/0.2-1 MW; Hawaii 2/8 MW; Idaho 6/251-326 MW; Nevada 45/1083-1902 MW; New Mexico 1/10 MW; Oregon 11/297-322 MW; Utah 6/244 MW; Washington 1/(unspecified capacity); Wyoming 1/0.2 MW.
Just so everyone’s clear on this, the geothermal power being talked about in this report is a different thing entirely than ground source heat pumps, which are sometimes called geothermal heat pumps. While both utilize the heat of the planet, the two really shouldn't be confused.
via :: Renweable Energy World and :: Geothermal Energy Association
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so whats the risk of the glycol leaking into the water table? especialy during an earthquake....
I read a while ago that the Hawaii electric company turned down more geothermal power because they had excess power. Why not burn less diesel and use more geo power?
I wish we had geothermal power here on Kauai.