State of the Geothermal Energy

Industry, 2019

15th Annual State of the Energy Industry Forum

US Energy Association

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 1

Will Pettitt, PhDExecutive Director

Geothermal Resources Council

Supporting the Geothermal Community

• Why does society want geothermal power?– Valuable

– Cost effective

– Works well with others

– Negligible emissions

– Small land footprint

– Long-term, wage-earning jobs

– Boosts local economy

– Low risk for end user

– Grid reliability – we can do that!

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 2

ID 92823984 © Jacek Dudzinski | Dreamstime.com

Supporting the Geothermal Community

The GRC represents

the geothermal

community

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 3From: GRC 2017 Photo Contest

Supporting the Geothermal Community

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 4

GRC Ambassador Program

• Negligible Emissions

• Renewable

• Sustainable

Supporting the Geothermal Community

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 5From: GRC Ambassador Program

From: GRC 2017 Photo Contest

Supporting the Geothermal Community

Geothermal is Flexible Baseload

• Reliable

• Stable

• Flexible

• Balancing

• Facilitator

Renewable Energy that WorksAround the Clock

. . .

. . .. . . .

From: GRC Ambassador Program24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 6

Supporting the Geothermal Community

Example: Geothermal as Baseload in California

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 7

Renewables Watch for 10th December, 2018, California

Independent System Operator, www.caiso.com

Supporting the Geothermal Community

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 8

Supporting the Geothermal Community

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 9

Installed conventional

geothermal

3.6 GWe*

Conventional

geothermal under

development

1.2 GWe*

Conventional

geothermal by 2050?

6 to 11 GWe**

Viable EGS potential

>100 GWe***

* After: GEA 2015, 2016

** From: Young et al., 2017

*** From: Ziagos et al., 2013

Supporting the Geothermal Community

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 10

EIA, 2017

Graphics courtesy of Jonathan Weisgall, Berkshire Hathaway Energy – data from various sources

• 2.3% of total renewable power generation and 0.4%

of all utility scale generation (in USA in 2017).

• Increased 7% over the past 10 years.

Supporting the Geothermal Community

International Market Growth

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 11

Graphics courtesy of ThinkGeoEnergy – data from various sources

Supporting the Geothermal Community

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 12

Graphic courtesy of Carsten F Sørlie ,

Statoil/Equinor

Supporting the Geothermal Community

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 13

Costs have been reducing but

need more efficiencies to be

directly cost competitive

Supporting the Geothermal Community

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 14

ID 67242499 © Flair Images | Dreamstime.com

Supporting the Geothermal Community

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 15

• Lithium Mining

• Hydrogen

Production

• Desalination

• Hybrid Solar

• O&G Co-

production

• Mining

Increase Value of

Geothermal Plants

Graphic courtesy of Berkshire

Hathaway Energy – data from

various sources

Supporting the Geothermal Community

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 16

• Efficient Permitting and Leasing

• Long-term tax credit extensions

• Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)

• Consider the value of geothermal

• Renewable transmission path upgrades

• “De-risking” efforts for geothermal resources

• Investment in Research and Development

Improve Government

Policies and Regulation

Supporting the Geothermal Community

Collaboration

Geothermal community

needs to collaborate

– Flexible Baseload Power

– Oil and Gas Synergies

– Mining Synergies

– Renewable Energy Community

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 17

ID 47305549 © Rawpixelimages | Dreamstime.com

Supporting the Geothermal Community

Thank you!

24 January, 2019 State of the Geothermal Industry, USEA Forum 18From: GRC 2017 Photo Contest