The Potential for Renewable Energy Development to Benefit Restoration of the Salton Sea: Analysis of Technical and Market Potential (NREL)
Geothermal development by 2030 is estimated at 1.05 GW to 1.81 GW of generation capacity.
The Salton Sea and the surrounding region face a wide range of environmental concerns from reduced inflows and other environmental factors, including exposed, potentially emissive lake beds; rising salinity; and impacts to aquatic and migratory avian species. A restoration program is urgently needed to address these concerns. Funded through a grant from the State of California Natural Resources Agency, under Agreement No. 0540-SSA 1, the Salton Sea Authority (SSA) is preparing the Salton Sea Funding and Feasibility Action Plan to address this need.
Of the commercially available renewable energy technologies,
geothermal, solar photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) have the greatest technical potential for development. The resource potential, costs, and estimated revenue streams from these technologies are summarized in the table above.
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