Drilling for Dollars: Notable Developments in Geothermal Finance (Renewable Energy World.com)
U.S. Geothermal capacity additions are on track to top 100 MWe in 2012, making this year one of the best for geothermal deployment in the last decade. This could be a tentative sign that conditions have been improving for geothermal finance (traditionally, finance has been one of the principal barriers to the technology's wider adoption). Projects coming online this year have demonstrated some creativity in leveraging financial opportunities.
From commercial debt, to federal incentives, to project bonds, the geothermal development community has demonstrated some creativity in leveraging alternative financing options. However, as federal incentives expire, and as macroeconomic shifts in the debt markets play out over the next several years, developers will need to continue their search for progressive financing strategies if they want to expand on this year's uptick in capacity deployment. And with as much as 872 MWe of confirmed geothermal projects in the early stages of development and looking for capital, there are gains to be had if developers can find novel ways of opening the taps.
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