Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Austria: Geothermal Dialogue Discusses Ways to Advance Industry

The CIF and geothermal - generating debate, knowledge and power (Climate Investment Fund)

Photo by: CPI
Geothermal power is one of the leading alternatives to fossil fuel based generation given its affordability, its flexibility, and the fact it can operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, unlike some other forms of renewable energy. However, its development is marked by high upfront costs and resource risks which necessitates public sector engagement and can discourage private sector participation.

In an effort to further understand the role of public sector and the most cost-effective measures to scale-up geothermal development in developing and emerging countries, including through facilitation of private sector finance, CIF, together with Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), hosted the Third Geothermal Dialogue in Vienna. It was followed by a Country Knowledge Exchange to facilitate knowledge and idea sharing amongst countries supported by the CIF. The learnings form both events are included in the new CIF/CPI report Lessons on the Role of Public Finance in Deploying Geothermal Energy in Developing Countries.