Photo: Kizildere III (Zorlu Enerji)
Turkey was the global leader in adding new geothermal capacity in 2018, with 219 MW. Croatia was sixth worldwide, with 17.5 MW.
Turkey completed several geothermal power projects in 2018, raising its installed capacity by 21% or 219 MW, to 1.3 GW, according to a report by think tank Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century Report (REN21).
Turkey ranks fourth globally for cumulative geothermal power capacity, having built up more than 1 GW of capacity in only six years, between 2013 and 2018, according to the Renewables 2019 Global Status Report.
An estimated 0.5 GW of new geothermal power generating capacity came online in 2018, bringing the global total to around 13.3 GW. Turkey and Indonesia remained the leaders for new installations and accounted for about two-thirds of the new capacity installed.
65.5 MW unit at Kizildere III plant – largest single unit completed in Turkey in 2018
The largest single unit completed in 2018 was the 65.5 MW Unit 2 at the Kizildere III plant, which became Turkey’s largest geothermal power plant (165 MW) as a result.
Other projects completed during the year include the 19.4 MW Baklaci, the 13.8 MW Buharkent, the 25 MW 3S Kale, and the 32 MW Pamukören Unit 4.
A final addition, the 30 MW Alsehir Unit 3, joined Turkey’s fleet in November, the report notes.
The majority of Turkey’s geothermal power plants use binary-cycle technology, as do all of the country’s plants under construction.
Conversely, most existing geothermal plants around the world use flash- or dry-steam technologies, which are suitable for high-temperature resources. Globally, binary-cycle technology has been
the fastest-growing technology in recent years, due in part to the rising use of relatively low-temperature resources.
Velika Ciglena puts Croatia on world’s top 10 geothermal list
Croatia completed its first geothermal power plant in 2018, ranking sixth worldwide for new capacity. The 17.5 MW Velika Ciglena plant is a project of Turkey’s MB Holding.
Croatia plans further development of geothermal resources in an effort to boost the share of renewables in its energy mix.
Global geothermal investment reaches USD 2.2 billion in 2018
Global investment in the geothermal sector in 2018 amounted to an estimated USD 2.2 billion.
Other countries that added capacity in 2018 (ordered by scale) were the United States, Iceland, New Zealand, Croatia, the Philippines, and Kenya.
At year’s end, the countries with the largest amounts of geothermal power generating capacity were the United States, Indonesia, the Philippines, Turkey, New Zealand, Mexico, Italy, Iceland, Kenya, and Japan.
Total geothermal energy output in 2018 was estimated at 630 PJ, with around half of this in the form of electricity (89.3 TWh).
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