RenewableS 2013 GlObal STaTUS RePORT - REN21

■■Geothermal Industry
A large number of GHP manufacturers operate in the United
States and Europe, with most European companies based in
the main markets. 41 In Europe and the United States, there are
two distinct classes of companies: general heating companies
and electric heating specialists; and manufacturers of heat
pump systems. 42
In the power sector, the five leading turbine manufacturers
in terms of total capacity in operation are Mitsubishi (Japan),
Toshiba (Japan), Fuji (Japan), Ansaldo/Tosi (Italy), and Ormat
(Israel), which together account for well over 80% of capacity
currently in operation around the world. 43 In addition, several
companies now manufacture small-scale geothermal power
units that can be built offsite and then integrated into a plant’s
design for production. 44
Technology continued to advance in the power sector during
2012. In the United States, a government-supported research
project made progress on enhanced geothermal systems (EGS)
technology, which extracts heat from engineered reservoirs
through fluid injection and rock stimulation. The project
demonstrated the equivalent of 5 MW of steam at The Geysers
in California. 45 In early 2013, AltaRock Energy announced that
it had created multiple stimulation zones for a single wellbore
at the Newberry EGS demonstration site. The potential benefit
is a significant reduction in the cost of production from an EGS
field. 46 Finally, in April 2013, Ormat Technologies, the U.S.
Department of Energy, and GeothermEx successfully produced
an additional 1.7 MW from an existing field in Nevada using EGS
technology. This is the first EGS system to be grid connected. 47
The year 2012 saw another first, with co-production of geothermal
power at Nevada’s Florida Canyon gold mine. 48 Another
U.S. research project showed promise for extracting significant
quantities of lithium from geothermal brine; the metal is a
critical component in the lithium battery technology that is
used extensively in electric vehicles. 49
In Iceland, Carbon Recycling International started operations at
a groundbreaking plant that produces methanol by combining
electrolytic hydrogen and carbon dioxide from a geothermal
power plant. The product is a fully renewable fuel suitable for
blending with gasoline. 50
Geothermal power projects take 5–7 years to develop from
resource discovery to commercial development, and, as with
oil and mining projects, the size of the resource is unconfirmed
until drilling takes place. Long development times and the
upfront risk and exploration often force geothermal companies
to fund the work required to prove the resource. Tight capital
and policy uncertainties in some countries, such as the United
States, have made it challenging for developers to attract
project funding. 51 Moreover, no two project sites are the same,
and each plant must be designed to project-specific conditions.
52 Nonetheless, once the feasibility of a resource has been
established, the probability of project success is better than
■■Hydropower Markets
80%. 53 Hydropower
An estimated 30 GW of new hydropower capacity came on line
in 2012, increasing global installed capacity by about 3% to an
estimated 990 GW. 1 i The top countries for hydro capacity are
China, Brazil, the United States, Canada, and Russia, which
together account for 52% of total installed capacity. 2 (See
Figure 9.) Ranked by generation, the order is the same except
that Canada’s generation exceeds that of the United States,
where hydropower is more load-following. 3 Globally, hydropower
generated an estimated 3,700 TWh of electricity during
2012, including approximately 864 TWh in China, followed by
Brazil (441 TWh), Canada (376 TWh), the United States (277
TWh), Russia (155 TWh), Norway (143 TWh), and India (>116
TWh). 4
China again led the world for new capacity additions, followed
by Turkey, Brazil, Vietnam, and Russia. 5 (See Figure 10.) China
installed 15.5 GW of new capacity to end the year with almost
229 GW of total installed hydropower capacity, and 20.3 GW of
pumped storage capacity. 6 The country’s hydropower output
was 864 TWh during the year, almost a third more than the
2011 total, due to increased capacity and improved hydrological
conditions. 7
In China, an 812 MW Francis turbine generator, the world’s
largest unit, was added to the Xianjiaba plant, which will total
6.4 GW when completed. 8 It will be the country’s third largest
hydropower facility, after the Three Gorges plant (22.5 GW)
and the Xiluodu plant (13.9 GW when completed). 9 The Three
Gorges achieved full capacity after the last of 32 generators
began operation in July, and reached a record output of 98.1
TWh in 2012. 10 In its current five-year plan, China targets 290
GW of installed capacity by 2015, while striving to improve
resettlement policies for affected local populations and to
strengthen ecological protection. 11 (See Sidebar 3.)
Turkey is increasing its hydropower capacity at a rapid rate to
address chronic shortages of electricity and frequent power
outages. 12 Approximately 2 GW was added in 2012, to end
the year with about 21 GW installed. 13 Construction continued
on the 1.2 MW Ilisu Dam on the Tigris River, while scientists
prepared for the removal of cultural monuments in areas that
will be submerged. 14
Brazil placed 1.86 GW of hydropower into operation in 2012,
including 394 MW of reported small-scale (