Economic Impact of Permitting Timelines on Produced Geothermal Power
Despite having a large geothermal power potential in the United States, only a small fraction has been developed for power generation. Various barriers, including technical, financial, and regulatory permit delays, are attributed to lower contribution of geothermal energy in the national grid. Unpredictable environmental reviews and permitting timelines are some of the non-technical barriers that can cause delays in geothermal exploration and utilization plans. This study shows that the geothermal permitting timelines can vary from six months to several years, depending on the presence or absence of biological resources, cultural resources, and sensitive environmental issues at the project site. The potential impacts of these permit barriers can range from investors abandoning geothermal development to making the product (i.e., electricity) more expensive and uncompetitive.
Citation Formats
TY - DATA
AB - Despite having a large geothermal power potential in the United States, only a small fraction has been developed for power generation. Various barriers, including technical, financial, and regulatory permit delays, are attributed to lower contribution of geothermal energy in the national grid. Unpredictable environmental reviews and permitting timelines are some of the non-technical barriers that can cause delays in geothermal exploration and utilization plans. This study shows that the geothermal permitting timelines can vary from six months to several years, depending on the presence or absence of biological resources, cultural resources, and sensitive environmental issues at the project site. The potential impacts of these permit barriers can range from investors abandoning geothermal development to making the product (i.e., electricity) more expensive and uncompetitive.
AU - Neupane, Ghanashyam
A2 - Adhikari, Birendra
DB - Geothermal Data Repository
DP - Open EI | National Renewable Energy Laboratory
DO - 10.15121/1845285
KW - geothermal
KW - energy
KW - permitting
KW - NEPA
KW - CEQA
KW - Salton Sea geothermal
KW - Salt Wells geothermal
KW - Truckhaven geothermal
KW - Cove Fort geothermal
KW - permitting timelines
KW - timelines
KW - permit
KW - non-technical
KW - barriers
KW - report
LA - English
DA - 2022/02/15
PY - 2022
PB - Idaho National Laboratory
T1 - Economic Impact of Permitting Timelines on Produced Geothermal Power
UR - https://doi.org/10.15121/1845285
ER -
Neupane, Ghanashyam, and Birendra Adhikari. Economic Impact of Permitting Timelines on Produced Geothermal Power . Idaho National Laboratory, 15 February, 2022, Geothermal Data Repository. https://doi.org/10.15121/1845285.
Neupane, G., & Adhikari, B. (2022). Economic Impact of Permitting Timelines on Produced Geothermal Power . [Data set]. Geothermal Data Repository. Idaho National Laboratory. https://doi.org/10.15121/1845285
Neupane, Ghanashyam and Birendra Adhikari. Economic Impact of Permitting Timelines on Produced Geothermal Power . Idaho National Laboratory, February, 15, 2022. Distributed by Geothermal Data Repository. https://doi.org/10.15121/1845285
@misc{GDR_Dataset_1369,
title = {Economic Impact of Permitting Timelines on Produced Geothermal Power },
author = {Neupane, Ghanashyam and Adhikari, Birendra},
abstractNote = {Despite having a large geothermal power potential in the United States, only a small fraction has been developed for power generation. Various barriers, including technical, financial, and regulatory permit delays, are attributed to lower contribution of geothermal energy in the national grid. Unpredictable environmental reviews and permitting timelines are some of the non-technical barriers that can cause delays in geothermal exploration and utilization plans. This study shows that the geothermal permitting timelines can vary from six months to several years, depending on the presence or absence of biological resources, cultural resources, and sensitive environmental issues at the project site. The potential impacts of these permit barriers can range from investors abandoning geothermal development to making the product (i.e., electricity) more expensive and uncompetitive. },
url = {https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1369},
year = {2022},
howpublished = {Geothermal Data Repository, Idaho National Laboratory, https://doi.org/10.15121/1845285},
note = {Accessed: 2025-05-28},
doi = {10.15121/1845285}
}
https://dx.doi.org/10.15121/1845285
Details
Data from Feb 15, 2022
Last updated Feb 16, 2022
Submitted Feb 15, 2022
Organization
Idaho National Laboratory
Contact
Ghanashyam Neupane
208.526.6808
Authors
Keywords
geothermal, energy, permitting, NEPA, CEQA, Salton Sea geothermal, Salt Wells geothermal, Truckhaven geothermal, Cove Fort geothermal, permitting timelines, timelines, permit, non-technical, barriers, reportDOE Project Details
Project Name Economic Impact of Permitting Timelines on Produced Geothermal Power
Project Lead Sean Porse
Project Number FY21 AOP 4.6.4.1
