Geothermal Permitting -- The Business Risks, Potential Regulatory Solutions
- Key words
- Permitting; regulatory; business risk; jurisdiction; project planning; project lifecycle; government policy improvements; Bureau of Land Management (BLM); permit planning
- Location
- United States
- Conference
- Geothermal Resources Council Transactions
- Year
- 2011
- Session
- Permitting; Risk management; Financing
- Language
- English
Abstract
Geothermal power projects in the U.S. are not being completed quickly. The author argues that this is due to a combination of high permitting risk and high resource risk. Together they make financing extremely difficult. Permitting risk arises from the extraordinary complexity and unpredictability to secure the necessary approvals. The multiplicity of agencies and court challenges lead to project delays that stretch into years. Reducing permitting delays so they demonstrably improve industry performance will require new thinking and new regulatory processes
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