IRENA hosted a discussion on the status of the global geothermal market and technology as part of the Council meeting with 16 countries in attendance, including a review of the recently published Global Geothermal Market and Technology Assessment.
In recent years, the geothermal market growth has been driven by developments in Indonesia, Kenya, Türkiye and the United States, and data on new plants commissioned in 2021 shows that geothermal energy competitively generated electricity at a levelised cost of electricity of USD 0.068/kWh,
Unfortunately, countries still face challenges in attracting investments to geothermal development due to higher perceived risks during the early phases of exploration as well as higher upfront capital expenditures, compared with other energy technologies. Other challenges are related to policy and regulatory frameworks, institutional and technical expertise, and technological advancements, which affect both electricity generation and heating and cooling.