Key facts on geothermal in Oregon ahead of GRC/ GEA events

The GEA Geothermal Energy Expo, co-held with the GRC Annual Meeting, is the premier gathering to learn about the latest developments in geothermal energy. The event will run Sept. 28 to Oct. 1 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, and hosttechnical, policy and market conference sessions, educational seminars, tours of local geothermal and renewable energy projects and numerous networking opportunities.

1. There is about 33 MW of geothermal power on-line in Oregon producing 165 GWh in 2013.
2. The latest industry survey identified 19 projects under development in Oregon with estimated subsurface resources of 340 MW that developers expect could provide 60 MW of additional power within the next few years if appropriate contracts are secured.
3. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that there are an additional 500 MW of discovered geothermal power resources in Oregon and 1,800 MW of undiscovered resources.
4. Geothermal power provides affordable power according to studies produced in 2014 by the Energy Information Agency, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, California Public Utilities Commission and others.
5. Geothermal power provides significant numbers of permanent jobs. For every 100MW of geothermal power there are 170 permanent jobs supported and development of 100MW of new projects produces over 600 annual construction and manufacturing jobs.
6. According to studies geothermal has the lowest life-cycle emission of any renewable technology besides hydropower.
7. Geothermal power projects have the lowest land density compared to any other renewable power technology.
8. Geothermal power plants can be engineered to be firm and flexible power sources in addition to being source of a renewable baseload power.
9. Geothermal fields can operate for 30 years or longer, the largest geothermal field in North America, the Geysers in California celebrated its 50th birthday this year. Geothermal fields in Italy have been generating electricity since 1912.
10. Every additional megawatt of geothermal power can enable the installation of 3 to 5 megawatt of additional intermittent power like solar and wind power.

Source: Press Release by GRC/GEA