New guide providing extensive overview on geothermal legislation worldwide
A newly launched guide on geothermal legislation and regulatory framework, Icelandic law firm BBA Legal provides a great overview on legal issues surrounding geothermal development in a variety of jurisdictions across the globe.
Icelandic law firm BBA Legal launched the “Geothermal Transparency Guide”, which intends to provide an insight into the legal frameworks governing exploration, exploitation and production of electricity from geothermal resources, in countries where geothermal capacity is being harnessed or is available for harnessing.
The hope is that the handbook will increase transparency and awareness of some of the rights and obligations governing applications for licenses for geothermal development and will serve as a first step in an eventual international cooperation for the purposes of creating industry standards in this field.
The Geothermal Transparency Guide features chapters on Iceland, Canada, Chile, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, USA and Vietnam.
The report is freely available and is currently accessible via ISSU
The report was launched during the 2nd Annual Meeting of the Global Geothermal Alliance of IRENA at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi. in the discussions following the presentation, there was a lively discussion regarding how mining and oil and gas legislation has played into current geothermal legislation, but also the differences and challenges to create a common standard for policies.
The report clearly provides a very useful overview on legislation and there are plans to expand the report with further overviews from other countries.
