| Abstract |
Development of any power plant; be it fossil-fueled, wind, solar, hydro, biomass, or geothermal, goes through its own unique development process. Even for tasks similar across energy technologies (land acquisition, financing, construction permits, power-sales agreements, interconnection to the grid) timelines differ for critical milestones. Geothermal energy projects are often developed on a longer timeline than other renewable technologies. Specifically, they require exploration drilling to confirm the resource. Resource confirmation incurs significant upfront costs and geologic expertise to define, delineate, and target potential resources. The purpose of this paper is to explain how the geothermal development process is different than other renewable energy technologies (wind and solar specifically). This paper describes the development process, and provides suggestions on how critical milestones within the process can be addressed by government policies. What may work for solar or wind might not work for geothermal and vice-versa. Most of the new geothermal energy projects brought online in the last decade involved expansion of existing well fields or development of fields that were drilled and/or had a resource confirmed many years earlier. However, the next wave of projects under development includes many greenfield sites with little to no prior exploration drilling. The development process for greenfield sites requires specific attention in order for these projects to succeed and the industry to maintain strong growth in the years ahead. This paper draws from the expertise of Ormat Technologies, Inc. which owns and operates 367 MW of geothermal power plants in the United States, and has produced or supplied roughly 1200 MW of geothermal plants globally in 19 countries. |