U.S. Geothermal Power Plants See Slow and Steady Increase

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The past few years have brought tremendous growth in the construction and planning of renewable energy projects in the United States. While most of this growth has occurred in the form of wind and solar power projects, U.S. geothermal projects have also increased--albeit at a slower rate.

Most geothermal plants and projects are confined to the western states. California, with approximately 2,565 megawatts (MW) of geothermal power, leads the nation in terms of installed geothermal capacity. Nevada has the most active geothermal projects in terms of the number of projects and total investment value.

Click on image at right for a breakdown by state of active U.S. geothermal power projects.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that for the first eight months of this year, U.S. geothermal power generation totaled about 10.9 million megawatt-hours, accounting for 0.4% of the nation's electricity generation. Although low, the EIA reports that this represents an increase of about 10% from the corresponding period of 2009. In addition to the lack of access to transmission lines that hinder remotely located solar and wind projects, geothermal projects require higher investments and take longer to complete than other types of renewable power projects.

Industrial Info is currently tracking 65 active geothermal power projects in the U.S., Canada and Mexico valued at more than $9.7 billion. In the U.S., the state of Nevada, with 30 geothermal power projects valued at more than $5.4 billion leads other states for active geothermal projects, followed by California.

One of the largest geothermal projects set to wrap up in the near future is near the town of Niland in Southern California. The 49.9-MW facility is owned by Catalyst Renewables Corporation (Dallas, Texas) and is scheduled to be wrapped up in the first half of 2012. Information on this project and more than 190 active geothermal power projects throughout the world is available in Industrial Info's Renewable Energy Database.

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Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.