Geothermal Energy

The total installed capacity of geothermal energy in the world in 2015 was 82 GW. The deployment of geothermal installations is the largest, with around 50 GW installed in the world. In geographic terms, the installed capacity is mainly found in America (production of electricity), Europe (direct use and low enthalpy geothermal –low temperature-) and Asia (uniform distribution among all the technologies).

Installed capacity in electricity power plants is expected to surpass 16 GW in 2020, with average annual growth of 4%. As for energy for direct use, the figures for the last few years show a lesser presence of the main application, baths and swimming pools, in favour of district heating, which has awoken the interest of many European countries that have been installing it in recent years.

As regards low enthalpy geothermal installations, the number at global level was 4.16 million in 2015. The market grew 8.5% per annum on average in the period covering 2010- 2015. In Europe, where the main markets are Sweden, Germany and France, the market for this type of installations is expected to grow thanks to support from favourable European legislation on the development of more efficient buildings and the renewable energy targets set for 2020.

The size of the geothermal sector is smaller than other renewable industries, with few specialist companies active in the supply chain. It is a sector headed by large manufacturing companies that have opted for vertical integration and are present in many stages of the value chain of exploitation of geothermal energy. Many of these companies are leaders in a region or country, and in recent years have progressed towards the global expansion of their businesses. In certain stages of the value chain the companies opt for a different strategy based on offering highly specialised services such as the case of companies that work on soil boring and geothermal engineering.

In Europe, the overall geothermal market has evolved from fragmented distribution based on small local companies to a market dominated by large companies that manufacture heating and air conditioning systems. This is why the countries of origin of the main manufacturers on the continent coincide with the main markets of overall geothermal energy.