The report concludes that California contains several thousand megawatts of geothermal resources that could provide renewable, firm, and possibly flexible power to the state’s power grid. Estimates predict only about half of the state’s identified geothermal resources are generating power today.
These geothermal resources will be crucial for meeting California’s climate and environmental goals. Not only do geothermal plants have one of the smallest land footprints of almost any other energy technology, but geothermal generation releases very little greenhouse gas emissions.
California’s grid will need a firm and flexible power source in order to reach its climate goals. The lowest-cost electricity to consumers is a power system composed of a diverse portfolio of renewable energy resources that includes geothermal generation. However, before geothermal development can be expanded in California, help is needed to construct new transmission that will allow geothermal project developers to interconnect to the statewide system. More specifically, new transmission at the Salton Sea would significantly expand the geothermal resources available for development.
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