According to a recently released report by the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA), called "Geothermal Energy: International Market Update", some 52 million people worldwide are now using electricity generated from geothermal energy sources. Furthermore, 24 countries have increased the amount of power online from geothermal sources by 20% since the last report, which was back in 2005. It is estimated that currently there is about 10 GW of geothermal power generating capacity installed around the world.
Probably the most interesting finding is that the number of countries pursuing opportunities in geothermal development has increased dramatically – seventy countries currently have geothermal developments under way, which is a 52% increase from the status back in 2007. Europe alone now has 24 countries actively involved in the development of geothermal energy sources, while there are 11 countries in Africa doing the same thing.
Some of the main factors to "blame" for this rise in geothermal energy interest are better financing and regional cooperation, and the development of low-temperature and enhanced geothermal power.
Just to point out a few interesting highlights:
- the US leads globally as a geothermal developer with almost 2 GW of installed capacity
- Germany has 150 geothermal power plants
- El Salvador gets 26% of energy needs from geothermal sources
- Kenya plans to produce 4 GW of power from geothermal resources by 2020
- Indonesia plans to expand geothermal capacity to 9.5 GW
- Iceland gets 25% of electricity needs from geothermal, and 90% of heating
See the full report here for more in-depth information.
[source: Geothermal Energy Association]
