Industry trackers indicate more geo power will be ready to go on line over the next three to four years than in any previous decade, and much of that work is underway by U.S. companies working abroad.
As the thousands of people in the geothermal energy industry wrap up
an exciting and challenging year, they are united by some recurring
themes. Investigative geologists, problem-solving engineers, and
pioneering international business leaders are some of the players who
worked this year to bring together the heat of the Earth with the
cities, customers, and other industries that need its unique
environmental and economic benefits.Applications within the Earth power sector are diverse, but the message that the industry sends is the same: with 13,000 MW under development globally, now is the time to get in to the geothermal business.
“We are seeing new technology developments moving forward,” said the
Geothermal Energy Association’s Executive Director Karl Gawell. “For
example, a California company began construction on the first commercial
plant using lithium carbonate from geothermal, and a University of
Minnesota startup began the first application of carbon dioxide plume
geothermal.”
The Association of U.S. companies who are developing geo power
recognized advancements in the industry through its 2013 Honors program.
The 22-MW Neal Hot Springs, Oregon plant was honored for being the
first commercial, supercritical Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) binary power
plant. It was built by US Geothermal and TAS Energy. GeothermEx, a
Schlumberger company, was recognized for its work supporting the
development of over 7,000 MW of geothermal. And a planned geothermal
community led by Dale Merrick and CanbyGeo that would combine power,
district hearing, greenhouses and aquaculture was honored for its
Environmental Stewardship. “The industry’s knowledge about Enhanced Geothermal Systems also
increased in 2013,” said Mr. Gawell: aside from U.S. projects, Australia
put its first “enhanced geo” or EGS pilot plant, a 1-MW trial, on line
at Habanero. This success was celebrated by U.S. parties and drove
further interest in the technology. In Europe, there were EGS
advancements in Hungary, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland.Meanwhile the EGS projects in the U.S. that made strides were headed
up by Calpine Corp., Ormat Technologies, and AltaRock Energy, and all
received federal administrative support. Their demonstrations have been
successful, too.
The Department of Energy (DOE)’s Geothermal Technologies Office
coordinates federal support for these and other geo industry projects.
Other Administrative steps to support the international industry this
year included the Power Africa initiative.Halley Dickey, Director of Geothermal Business Development for TAS
Energy said the $7 billion U.S. federal commitment called Power Africa,
along with industry efforts on both continents, “demonstrates the
absolute potential and emphasis on an emerging market for geothermal;
namely Africa, from both a resource potential in sheer megawatts and
from a commercial potential in a short period.”
But, he went on, “It also demonstrates the confusion within the
United States and lack of the same laser-like focus on our current
resource potential and our need for renewable energy within our own
borders. What could we do with the same focus and emphasis?”Still, “there are many U.S. projects that can come on prior to 2016,” Mr. Dickey said.
Mr. Gawell agrees that the U.S. policy landscape has been lacking.
“In the U.S., geothermal has been a hostage to Washington’s gridlock
politics and lack of any clear national clean energy policy,” he said.
Around this time last year, the U.S. Congress escalated the fight
over a legislative package that included renewable energy tax credit
riders, taking the country to the brink of a fiscal cliff at year's end.
On January 1, 2013 the industry received the holiday news that tax
credits for geothermal were, though not extended, adjusted. This would
encourage more geo projects to develop their power plants just as fast
as the permitting and other paperwork would allow—which by most counts,
unfortunately, is not very fast.
Oil and gas companies have been getting incentives for decades, and
renewable energy is a more recent addition. Geo experts want to be on a
level playing field and are still catching up since geothermal has
qualified for the major renewable tax credit only since 2005.
The adjustment Congress adopted at the beginning of the year allowed
projects to qualify earlier in the project development process. Instead
of having to be in production, they could qualify at the construction
stage. There are a number of projects that will benefit from this that
might not have been built otherwise. It will take some time to piece
together how many projects end up qualifying.Only in the last month of the year have there been signs of change in
Washington, with a bipartisan, bicameral budget deal in the Congress
and a new clean energy tax proposal by Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus
(D-MT). “The budget deal could open the door to finishing
appropriations bills, which could reinvigorate the DOE research
program,” Mr. Gawell said; “And the Baucus tax paper breathes new life
into efforts to establish long-term incentives for geothermal and other
clean power technologies.”While the U.S. works through its challenges, “We have continued to
engage the community of developers and supporters and have tracked
milestones from all over the world,”.Becky Little coordinates some of the activities of the Executive
Director and the Association. She said, “As 2013 comes to a close, many
U.S. developers are looking abroad to countries where geothermal growth
has been strong.”
For more please click here.
For full article please visit:- http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/12/geothermal-energys-year-in-review-an-awakening-global-market
No comments:
Post a Comment