FAQs

The geothermal market is composed of three sectors with different technologies. Geothermal energy can be harvested in two ways, direct use of hot water or steam from low enthalpy deposits for space heating or industrial use such as aquaculture, thermal baths and hot springs, and indirect use which transforms the energy in high and medium enthalpy deposits into electricity in geothermal power generation plants. A third category is the increasingly important sub-category of direct use, the ground source heat pump (GSHP). The geothermal market is expanding, although it has not escaped the effects of the financial crisis in the short term. Big ticket investment in renewable energy has been hit by the 2008/9 global recession. Working off a low base, it might be argued that geothermal investment has not taken the same type of knock as, for example, wind power. However, the long list of projects at early stages in the United States which we include in this report suggests that the process of installing geothermal resource has at least slowed. 

The global installed capacity of geothermal power generation at 2007 was 9,732 MW, of which 8,590 MW was running. Six countries account for 81% of the geothermal generation capacity in the world, a small decrease since 2005, reflecting the broadening horizons of geothermal power generation. The USA is first with 2,687 MW (1,935 MW operational), followed by Philippines (1,969  MW, 1,855 MW operational); four countries (Mexico, Italy, Indonesia, Japan) had capacity at the end of 2004 in the range of 500 - 1000 MW each. Growth hot spots by output in 2007 were Papua New Guines (833%), Iceland (109% between 2005 and 2007),Turkey (90%), Guatemala (61%), Portugal (44%, The Azores) and El Salvador (35%).The report lists with brief profiles the leaders in developing geothermal technology and installing new plants.

GSHP (Ground Source Heat Pumps) are one of the fastest growing applications of renewable energy in the world and the fastest growing forms of geothermal energy, with annual increases of well over 10% in about 30 countries over the past ten years. It is a small but fast growing proportion of the space heating market.This is a technology of the future and we predict that it will make fast progress.

Outline of report:

• This report provides an excellent introduction and understanding of the three technologies for exploiting geothermal energy; power generation, GSHPs (ground source heat pumps), direct use (excluding GSHPs) 
• The industry’s development and use of technology, power generation, efficiency and location of resources
• It provides an overview of geothermal energy, capacity and utilisation
• The geothermal power industry is reviewed looking at the power operators and equipment manufacturers
• Geothermal revenue and costs are analysed, including generation, construction and equipment costs
• The report looks at country use and development of geothermal energy with an analysis of the major market places – North America, Central America & Caribbean, Europe, Asia, Africa
• A listing of major geothermal manufacturers with address and telephone and fax numbers where available is provided at the end of the report

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For more information on the rest of the topics we cover within the renewable  energy market please go to our renewable energy market research page. 

The report highlights developments in the geothermal market and pinpoints regions which are developing geothermal capacity. Developments have been quite substantial in the last year, and these are outlined, including company changes.