Geothermal Energy Development, Now Goes Northwest
This year’s Geothermal Resources Council (GRC) annual meeting and Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) expo is being held in Portland starting Monday, Sept. 29. The event includes a 5-day discussion about recent industry trends and technology. It is expected that the meeting would gather more than 150 people from 17 different countries to Northwest. Aside from the discussions, the group also plans to visit Mount St. Helens, Central Oregon’s Newberry Crater and Klamath Falls, where there is geothermal energy that heats sidewalks and building as well as a local brewery.
History
Since 1971, the United States has already been using a small and consistent amount of geothermal energy to produce electricity. In fact, in 2013, 0.4% of total U.S. generation comes from geothermal energy. Most of these volume arise from Western U.S, particularly the site in California.
Executive director of Geothermal Energy Association, Karl Gawell, said that the federal government has invested a lot of money to explore geothermal energy back in the 1970’s and 80’s. However, the industry chose to direct the funds towards areas that are outside Northwest. This is eventually because prices of electricity outside Northwest are higher compared to countries within.
Doug Glaspey, president of U.S Geothermal in Boise, further said that during the initial push of finding geothermal energy in U.S back in the 70’s and 80’s the industry became discouraged of the hydroelectric dams in Northwest.
Due to the impediment that happened decades ago, there might still be places to explore in Northwest that have geothermal sources. What was once a setback is now a setup to boost geothermal energy development heading for Northwest.
New Frontier of Geothermal Energy
According to the latest annual report of the industry, there are more than a dozen of geothermal projects across the Northwest that are under development. Hence, there are a lot of places to explore as the industry leaders said.
“If you’re going to continue growing a company, you’ve have to look elsewhere, and that elsewhere right now is the Pacific Northwest,” Glaspey said. Additionally, he stated, “To build a successful geothermal project, you need a hot spot underground with enough hot water to supply a power plant. Those conditions are usually found in active volcanic regions and Northwest certainly qualifies.”
Gawell said that there are 33 megawatts of geothermal power online in Oregon which is enough to power McMinnville, a city of 32, 535 population. There is also an additional 340 megawatts, enough to provide power to the cities of Salem and Eugene that is currently under development. According to the U.S. Geological survey, it can be estimated that these geothermal resources has the potential to produce 1,800 megawatts.
The search for geothermal energy in Northwest is starting small. Moreover, companies that are pursuing geothermal projects are positive that they will see more of Northwest potential as the years progress.
