World Bank – Global Geothermal Development Plan – an update
Pamukören plant, Turkey (source: Verkís)
Parker O'Halloran
9 May 2017
In an overview recently shared, the World Bank provides an update on the status of its Global Geothermal Development Plan that has helped to raise up to $235 million for geothermal development activities.
The Global Geothermal Development Plan (GGDP) is an initiative sponsored by the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) with the goal of developing geothermal energy by tackling resource risks through lasting international partnerships. The key feature of the GGDP is to sponsor substantial new funding for the high risk and capital-intensive upstream phases of geothermal development in order to catalyze investment within other stages of the geothermal value chain in low and middle-income countries. Funding is from a variety of sources including bilateral donors, multilateral development banks, and international climate finance instruments.
As of March 2017, donors have responded positively to the GGDP raising US $235 million. These funds will be deployed through the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) for geothermal exploratory investments as part of the Utility Scale Renewable Energy Program. Thus far, projects have been approved by CTF for Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Nicaragua, and Eastern Caribbean and will be implemented by Inter-American Development Bank; a project in Turkey will be implemented by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; for Indonesia a project implemented by the World Bank; and Kenya will implement a project through the African Development Bank.
ESMAP has raised US $8.35 million from 2013-17 for the following: 1) Identify and develop investments in geothermal energy resource validation through exploratory drilling, 2) dissemination of knowledge and promote capacity building, 3) support for additional concessional capital mobilization. Currently, ESMAP is supporting identification, preparation and oversight of eight geothermal investment operations.
Dissemination of knowledge and capacity building has become vital thanks to the three GGDP Roundtable events (The Hague 2013, Copenhagen 2014, and Reykjavik 2016) and the partnership with the International Geothermal Association (IGA). In cooperation with the IGA, new Global Standards for Classification of Geothermal Resources are being developed, and the recently published report on Geothermal Resource Risk Mitigation Mechanisms and a guidance note on Greenhouse Gases and Geothermal Utilization have been released.
The World Bank will provide an update on its geothermal support mechanism and program for Turkey at the upcoming IGC Turkey 2017, geothermal conference in Izmir/ Turkey, 22-24 May 2017.
Source: Overview on the Global Geothermal Development Plan (ESMAP, World Bank Group, Washington, DC, worldbank.org), March 2017.
