BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 14. The global installed cost for geothermal power projects in 2021 totalled $3,991 per kW, Trend reports via the latest publication from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
This figure is higher than the 2020 index ($3,483 per kW), although, this is still less, compared to 2017 and 2019 levels, the report noted.
According to the IRENA, “the total installed costs of the 11 projects commissioned in 2021 ranged from a low of $1,978 per kW to a high of $6,548 per kW for a 4 MW plant”.
“Worldwide, around 370 MW of new geothermal power generation capacity was commissioned in 2021. This was slightly higher than the 335 MW added in 2020,” the report said.
Meanwhile, the global average cost for newly commissioned geothermal power projects was $0.068 per kWh, which is an increase, compared to $0.054 per kWh in 2020.
As IRENA explains, however, the low level of geothermal energy adoption means that the weighted average costs and productivity are determined by only a few installations per year.
“Geothermal plants are typically designed to run as often as possible, in order to maintain constant flows from the reservoir and to provide power around the clock. In 2021, the global weighted average capacity factor for newly commissioned plants was 77 percent. This was lower than in recent years due to a project with a low estimated capacity factor that was completed in Türkiye. All the other projects commissioned in 2021 had estimated lifetime capacity factors of between 75 percent and 91 percent,” the report noted.
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