The Status of World Geothermal Power Generation 1995-2000

Abstract

In order to assess the status of international geothermal power generation, the Rapporteur reviewed the Country Update Papers from all nations generating or planning to generate electricity. Salient facts were synthesized, summary descriptions of geothermally-related activities written and appropriate tables and graphs created. The reviews revealed that: 1) geothermally fueled electric power is being generated in 21 nations as of February 2000, 2) the installed capacity has reached 7,974 MWe (Table 1) which is a 16.7% increase since 1995 (Table 2), 3) the total energy generated is at least 49,261 GWh (with estimates of the data for four nations that presented no information) (Table 3), 4) during the last five years, about 1,165 wells more than 100 meters deep were drilled (Table 4) and 5) at least 13,621 person-years of professional geothermistís time was expended in the nations that reported this statistic (Table 4). It has been concluded that greater increases in the total international installed geothermal generation capacity were inhibited by the economic crisis that occurred in Southeast Asia, by the low petroleum prices that prevailed during the 5 year period and by serious capacity declines at The Geysers field in California, USA. It is believed that all three of these conditions are currently improving, technology is advancing and international environmental awareness is spreading. Accordingly, it appears likely that over the next 5-10 years, the growth rate of geothermal energy use for power generation will significantly increase.