Geothermal energy is set to play a significant, albeit small role in the power mix of the future, building on its currently modest 0.3% share of the world’s power supply. As global economies ramp up their efforts to decarbonize, the importance of renewable baseload energy sources such as geothermal is expected to increase in the coming years. Installed geothermal power generation capacity currently stands at 16.
Apart from the fact that current geothermal projects are heavily location restricted, a major barrier holding the industry back is the risk borne by the developer. Geothermal projects are often considered high risk due to the many uncertainties involved, such as subsurface conditions and recoverable resource volumes – similar to oil and natural gas projects. Risk sharing is one of the ways in which the burden on the developer can be lessened.