Geothermal Energy Sector Expanding Globally

Geothermal energy sector is one of the fastest developing renewable energy sectors in the world. According to the latest reports global geothermal capacity has increased by more than 20% in the last five years, and there are many new countries that have showed interest for adding geothermal power to their energy portfolios.

Since our planet is in the constant state of producing inner heat geothermal energy can be harnessed in many different places across the globe, though the best places for harnessing geothermal resources are still areas near tectonic plates because these areas have maximum heat due to the very expressed volcanic activity.

The more geothermal energy this world use to satisfy its energy needs the better because this will also mean less fossil fuels. Sadly, geothermal power still needs to work on its cost-competitiveness with fossil fuels to really make the difference. Drilling costs are usually the ones that add the most to total costs but there are some promising technologies like EGS (Enhanced geothermal system)) that will perhaps decrease these high capital costs in years to come, and make this technology more competitive in terms of costs with fossil fuels.

The United States lead the way in totally installed geothermal power capacity with 3,086 MW of installed geothermal capacity, followed by countries like Philippines, Indonesia and Mexico.

It is also good to see that geothermal power is also increasing in popularity in Europe, where beside Italy some other countries like for instance Great Britain, France and Germany have also shown increased interest in new geothermal energy projects.

Word "geothermal" could therefore be weighing much more in years to come.