Geothermal energy is thermal energy in the Earth's crust. It combines energy from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay. Geothermal energy has been exploited as a source of heat and/or electric power for millennia.
Geothermal energy was first used for electric power production in the United States in 1960. The Geysers in Sonoma and Lake counties, California was developed into the largest geothermal steam electrical plant in the world, at 1,517 megawatts. Other geothermal steam fields operate in the western US and Alaska.
The Geysers is the world's largest geothermal field, containing a complex of 18 geothermal power plants, drawing steam from more than 350 wells, located in the Mayacamas Mountains approximately 72 miles (116 km) north of San Francisco, California.
Geothermal power is electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation is currently used in 26 countries, while geothermal heating is in use in 70 countries.
West Indies Power was a geothermal power company registered in 2001 in the Netherlands Antilles and with the head office in Charlestown, Saint Kitts and Nevis. It conducted studies on geothermal power projects in Nevis, Saba and Dominica.
The Olkaria III Geothermal Power Station, also known as 'OrPower 4' is a large geothermal power plant in Kenya, having an installed electricity generating capacity of 139 megawatts (186,000 hp).
Ormat Technologies, Inc. is an international company based in Reno, Nevada, United States. Ormat supplies alternative and renewable geothermal energy technology. The company has built over 190 power plants and installed over 3,200 MW. As of January 2021 it owns and operates 933 MW of geothermal and recovered energy based power plants. Ormat has supplied over 1000 turbochargers worldwide: North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company's products also include turbines, generators, and heat exchangers.
Blue Mountain Faulkner 1 Geothermal Power Plant is a geothermal power plant located in Humboldt County, Nevada, United States. It is owned and operated by Nevada Geothermal Power Inc. Produced electricity is sold to NV Energy through a 21-mile (34 km) 120-kV transmission line to the transmission grid connection at Mill City, Nevada.
Energy Development Corporation is the largest producer of geothermal energy in the Philippines and the second largest in the world. It is involved in alternative energy projects, including geothermal, hydroelectric and wind energy projects. The company was formerly owned by the Philippine National Oil Company, a state corporation owned by the Republic of the Philippines engaged in the exploration of resources, production of energy and distribution of power supply to smaller electricity distributor. EDC was privatized and acquired by the Lopez Group as part of its energy and power supply utility business units.
Hungary is a member of the European Union and thus takes part in the EU strategy to increase its share of renewable energy. The EU has adopted the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive, which included a 20% renewable energy target by 2020 for the EU. By 2030 wind should produce in average 26-35% of the EU's electricity and save Europe €56 billion a year in avoided fuel costs. The national authors of Hungary forecast is 14.7% renewables in gross energy consumption by 2020, exceeding their 13% binding target by 1.7 percentage points. Hungary is the EU country with the smallest forecast penetration of renewables of the electricity demand in 2020, namely only 11%.
The Boulder Solar project is a 150 megawatt (MWAC) photovoltaic power station near Boulder City, Nevada. It was built in two phases by SunPower using its Oasis Power Plant system. The project is co-located with several other large solar power projects in the Eldorado Valley.
The Karkar Geothermal Power Plant (Karkar GTPP) (Armenian: Կարկառի երկրաջերմաէլեկտրակայան) is a proposed geothermal power plant to be constructed in Armenia. The plant will be the first of its kind in Armenia and will be situated at the Karkar site in the southernmost province of Armenia, Syunik. Initial studies envisage the construction of a 28-30 MW capacity geothermal power plant with an annual electric output of 250 million kilowatt hours (kWh) according to data provided in 2016. The Karkar GTPP will allow for the production of heat to be used in the heating of greenhouses, residential buildings, and industrial sites. Commissioned in 2008-2009, the Karkar GTPP is a unique project in Armenia in that it does not possess an analogue in the region, and positively differs from other energy producing power plants in its renewability of resources, independence from imported energy sources, as well as its minimal environmental impact.
The Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV) is a geothermal energy power plant on the island of Hawaii, the largest island in the state of Hawaii. The plant was shut down shortly after the start of the May 2018 lower Puna eruption, and resumed power generation in November 2020. The eruption had caused lava to flow over a PGV power substation, a warehouse and at least three geothermal wells that had been preventatively quenched and capped when lava fountains erupted nearby, eventually also cutting off road access.
The Suswa Geothermal Power Station also known as Suswa Geothermal Power Plant is a planned geothermal power plant in Kenya, with installed electric generating capacity of 330 megawatts (440,000 hp)
The Soda Lake Geothermal Field is located on the northeast flank of the Soda Lakes volcano, west of the city of Fallon, Nevada in Churchill County.
The Mammoth Geothermal Complex is a complex of 4 geothermal power stations located at Casa Diablo Hot Springs about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Mammoth Lakes, California. The complex is owned by Ormat and operated by its subsidiary Mammoth Pacific.
The Tulu Moye Geothermal Power Station, is a 50 MW (67,000 hp) geothermal power station, under construction in Ethiopia. When fully developed, the power station will be the first grid-ready independently developed geothermal power station in the country. The developers of this power plant, plan to expand it to 150 megawatts capacity, in the second phase, planned in the following five years.
The Corbetti Geothermal Power Station, is a 500 MW (670,000 hp) geothermal power station, under construction in Ethiopia. When fully developed, the power station will be the largest grid-ready independently developed geothermal power station in the country. The developers of this power plant plan to expand it from 10 megawatts to 60 megawatts, then to 500 megawatts and to possibly 1,000 MW. They have given themselves until 2030 to complete this renewable energy development.
