The geothermal industry’s efforts to grab a bigger slice of the growing renewable energy pie met with some success in 2014, though that wasn’t reflected in the United States, where questions remain as to when – or if – geothermal might become more than a relatively small, regional player.
Previewing its latest annual report, the U.S.-based Geothermal Energy Association on Tuesday put 2014 global capacity additions at 620 megawatts. That was the most since 1997, but don’t get the idea there was a big ramp-up in the industry’s growth curve. “Overall, the global geothermal industry grew at about 5% for the third year in a row, reaching 12.8 GW (gigawatts),” the GEA said in a press release.