GEA sees geothermal back on track with landmark legislation in California
GEA California´s Geothermal Energy Future
Francisco Rojas
10 Jun 2014
A procurement bill will be discussed shortly in California were a 500MW increase in geothermal would be considered in order to diversify and add more renewable energy sources to the energy pool. GEA says that there is much more potential for geothermal development in the region.
Last May, the Senate Bill 1139 was passed in the state of California looking at adding more renewable energy to the portfolio and ultimately, geothermal. “Geothermal, with its ability to provide baseload power with negligible greenhouse gas emissions, has the potential to anchor southern California’s energy needs, while keeping us on track to achieve our state’s emissions reductions goals,” stated Assemblymember V. Manuel Pérez who co-authored the bill.
The same news source states that despite being renewable, geothermal is not treated equally in practice under California’s Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) program. Bob Sullivan, Vice President of Business Development at Ormat Technologies, says: “California has a preferred loading order, and renewables are at the very top along with distributed generation and efficiency. Then fossil fuels start coming on. But geothermal keeps getting overlooked.” The problem lies in the lack of recognition of geothermal energy’s differences from other renewable sources, and a lack of incentives for the ancillary benefits that make it key to the energy mix.
Geothermal in not only good for the environment but also for the region where it is located since it generates new jobs and creates long term wealth. Areas of California such as the Salton Sea which are suffering from severe economic and habitat degradation might find relief in new geothermal projects being developed in the area.
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Source: Renewable Energy World Website
