Geothermal energy market, region by region, end of 2012

Tke geothermal energy market continued growing in 2012; however the newly installed capacity of 353MW represents average growth in respect to the last six years (547MW, 317MW, 338MW, 392MW and 225MW; 2011-2007 respectively).

The US contributed 147MW of newly installed capacity for the year, and another 207MW is a result of statistical revision done by the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA). Hence, the US has around 3386MW of installed geothermal plant and remains the largest national market.

Nicaragua (36MW) and Mexico (25MW) also completed expansions of existing geothermal power plants, while Indonesia completed construction and expansion respectively of three plants with a combined capacity of 135MW. Kenya brought a 5MW installation online, while in Germany a binary cycle plant started production with a capacity of 4.8MW. Thus, in 2012 cumulative geothermal capacity globally increased to around 11.57GW.

Summary of the global geothermal market, region by region, end of 2012
Cumulated installed capacity 2012 (GW) Installed capacity 2012 (MW) Estimated electricity generation 2012 (TWh/year)
Europe 1.69 5 11.4
North America 4.92 208 28.4
South America 0 0 0
Asia 3.92 135 26.2
Oceania 0.82 0 4.6
Africa 0.22 5 1.5
World total 11.57
353
72.7
Largest National Market USA 3.39 USA 147