IRENA Webinar – Developing bankable geothermal projects, 22 Nov. 2017
Announcement screenshot
Alexander Richter
16 Nov 2017
IRENA is holding a webinar on the Development of bankable geothermal power projects, discussing the challenges and opportunities in the development of bankable geothermal power projects on November 22, 2017.
As part of its Project Navigator efforts, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is holding a webinar on the Development of bankable geothermal power projects.
The upcoming webinar will discuss the challenges and opportunities in the development of bankable geothermal power projects
Supporting the Global Geothermal Alliance’s Action Plan, the webinar will be held on Wednesday November 22, 2017 at 1pm GMT.
Register to take part, here: https://goo.gl/zev7CS
Webinar Background
Geothermal power projects rely on sustainable access to the Earth crust’s natural heat to pump hot water or steam up from deep wells to generate base load or flexible power.
Supporting the development of capabilities of various stakeholders along the geothermal value chain, the Global Geothermal Alliance’s (GGA) mission is to increase the share of geothermal energy in the global energy mix through both geothermal power generation and direct use of geothermal heat.
The Project Navigator, one of IRENA’s project facilitation tools, contributes to the GGA’s Action Plan endorsed by Members and Partners in 2016 by supporting the development of effective enabling frameworks and associated mechanisms to achieve national objectives for geothermal energy deployment (Action 3).
High upfront costs represent a steep barrier given that significant investments are required before project risks can be mitigated in a way that project developers can convince investors and lenders that their project is bankable.
In a global competitive energy landscape where geothermal levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) ranges from $0.04 to $0.14/ kWh, geothermal project developers need to set realistic expectations and quantify project goals by conducting a thorough analysis of the project environment.
Webinar Overview
The upcoming IRENA webinar on the development of bankable geothermal power projects will discuss the challenges and opportunities in the development of bankable geothermal power projects. Experts in the field will discuss best practices to assist project developers in developing bankable geothermal power projects. The discussion will be followed by questions from participants.
Addressing project uncertainties and challenges, the IRENA Project Navigator supports and guides project developers in the development of geothermal power projects in a manner that can be understood and audited by financiers to facilitate the access to renewable energy financing.
The newly released geothermal guidelines describe bankability requirements in nine progressive stages to develop, finance, construct, and operate a geothermal power plant.
Even though natural resources can be found virtually everywhere, geothermal power projects face specific challenges, as specific project costs are highly site-sensitive, with typical costs for geothermal power plants ranging from $1.8m to $5m per MW. As such, identification of a bankable geothermal site can only be assured after an exploration drilling campaign has been successfully completed.
Therefore, deciding if a project is promising enough to continue investing in it, will require a comprehensive overview of the project. This includes a desk study to assess the geothermal resource potential at the site, a checklist of national policy and regulatory frameworks, a country-specific risk assessment, reliable information on the feasibility and timeframe of exploration licensing and permitting procedures, availability of performance guarantees from technology providers, a base study of market conditions, and an evaluation of bankability requirements and financing options.
Preliminary webinar agenda (latest agenda available here: https://goo.gl/QicBzV – times are GMT)
- 14:00 – 14:05 Introduction to IRENA and its work on project facilitation
- 14:05 – 14:10 Introduction to the Global Geothermal Alliance (GGA) – a global partnership for geothermal energy
- 14:10 – 14:15 Overview of IRENA Project facilitation platforms for geothermal projects
- 14:15 – 14:30 How to make a geothermal power project bankable: practical steps, analysis, tools and templates with the IRENA Project Navigator
- 14:30 – 14:50 Expert panel on geothermal power project development
- 14:50 – 15:00 Questions & Answers session with expert contributions
