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Using the Earth to Save the Earth

2021 U.S. Geothermal Market Report Released

Geothermal Rising is proud to have collaborated with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in producing this assessment of the current state of the geothermal industry.
DID YOU KNOW?
Scientists project that the U.S. geothermal energy will contribute to 10% of the country’s energy by 2050.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has just published the much-anticipated 2021 U.S. Geothermal Power Production and District Heating Market Report. A collaborative effort between NREL and Geothermal Rising, this report provides interested stakeholders with up-to-date information and data reflecting the 2019 geothermal power production and district heating markets.

The report captures domestic capacity and usage for geothermal power production and district heating and cooling, while also discussing the impact of state and federal policy and future opportunities for the domestic geothermal market and industry.

Some of the highlights of the report include:

  • United States geothermal power capacity increased from 3.627 gigawatts (GW) to 3.673 GW from the end of 2015 through the end of 2019.
  • The United States brought seven new geothermal power plants online during this same timeframe, adding 186 megawatts (MW) of nameplate capacity, while 11 plants were retired or classified as nonoperational, subtracting 103 MW of nameplate capacity.
  • Nine new geothermal Power Purchase Agreements have been signed across four states since late 2019, including plans for the first two geothermal power plants to be built in California in a decade.
  • Geothermal companies operating in the United States have a combined 58 active developing projects and prospects across nine states.  Five of these projects are in Phase 4, the phase immediately preceding project completion.
  • There are currently 23 geothermal district heating (GDH) systems in the United States. The oldest installation dates from 1892 (Boise, Idaho), and the most recent installation was completed in 2017 (Alturas, California)
  • U.S. GDH systems tend to be significantly smaller in size (average of 4 MWth) than European GDH systems (continent-wide average of ~17 MWth), and orders of magnitude smaller than the average GDH system in China (~1,000 MWth)

The report can be downloaded from our blog article here: https://geothermal.org/our-impact/blog/2021-us-geothermal-market-report-released