POWER September 2014 - 66

RENEWABLES
What's Needed to Address U.S.
Geothermal's Deep-Seated
Challenges?
Geothermal generation is clean, renewable, and cost-effective over the long
term, and the U.S. has vast untapped geothermal resources. So why is it
still operating on the sidelines?
Kennedy Maize
F
or the U.S. geothermal energy industry,
2013 ended on a positive note. Cyrq Energy's
Dale Burgett geothermal plant, a
4-MW unit in southwest New Mexico, began
operating in December, the first geothermal
project in a state with plenty of potential
to generate electricity from the heat of the
depths of the earth (Figure 1).
A 6-MW expansion is already under way,
said the company, which has a contract for
sale of electricity from the plant in the Lightning
Dock geothermal area to Public Service
of New Mexico (PNM). PNM will pay
$97.97/MWh over 20 years, with a 2.75%
annual escalator.
But the commissioning of the plant had a
bittersweet taste. It marked the end of a year
that saw little growth for the domestic U.S.
geothermal industry, while the rest of the
world was enjoying the best geothermal year
in memory. International prospects are for
continued solid growth, while the U.S. faces
a less-promising future.
According to the Geothermal Energy Association
(GEA), the U.S. industry's Washington
lobbying group, " The international
geothermal power market is booming, growing
at a sustained rate of 4% to 5%. Almost
700 geothermal projects are under development
in 76 countries. Many countries anticipating
the threats caused by climate change
realize the values of geothermal power as a
base load and sometimes flexible source of
renewable energy. "
Some 530 MW of geothermal capacity
came online around the world in 2013,
" The most geothermal megawatts to become
operational in one year since 1997. " GEA
1. Groundbreaker. The 4-MW Dale Burgett plant is the first geothermal project in New
Mexico. Courtesy: Cyrq Energy
reports some 12 GW in the development
pipeline, and about 1,900 MW under construction
in 15 countries (see sidebar " The
International Scene " ).
Cloudy Future in the U.S.
The picture is clouded in the U.S., the GEA
reports, where " in 2013 the U.S. market was
a quieter place to do business. " U.S. geothermal
growth was flat compared to 2012, said
the organization, with about 85 MW of new
capacity during the year. Says GEA, " This
number is about 40% lower than the capacity
additions (148 MW) of 2012 and reflective of
the difficulty in building a new power plant in
the U.S. right now due to a number of policy
barriers. . . . Simply put, the U.S. geothermal
industry is trending opposite of the international
market, which is growing at a steady
4% to 5% per year. "
This Dickensian " best-of-times, worstof-times "
condition for geothermal comes,
notes the GEA, despite the fact that the
U.S. " has one of the best potentials for geo
power of any nation, due to strong government
support, the technical knowhow, experienced
developers, and vast geothermal
reserves. " The U.S. has long been the world
leader in geothermal power and continues
that edge.
The largest geothermal generating project
in the world is The Geysers (although there
are no actual geysers in that geothermal field)
in California wine country in Sonoma, Lake,
and Mendocino counties, covering some 30
square miles (Figure 2). Opened in 1921 by
a local resort developer, the project had an
original capacity of just 250 kW, used to light
the resort community.
Investor-owned utility Pacific Gas & Electric
Co. (PG&E), based in San Francisco, in
1960 began operating an 11-MW generating
plant in the geothermal field. Over the years,
66
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