Geothermal Provides Baseload Power for Christmas in California

eh, GeoThermal is already under 3 cents per KWH:
50-deg shallow EARTH COUPLED GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMPS HEAT ANYTHING UNDER 3 cents per kwh.
That is still 15% less costly than nGas in Ohio @ $4/mcf ! Mine last from 1979... to date with same compressor and outlast grundfos and B&G pumps! And well pumps run to 20+ years for my customers///

With reason to believe:
It is not just the output of large geothermal, but too the peak reductions and general reduction in KWH by shallow 45-to-75 degree geothermal heat pumps contributing to also 34% reduction in NOX gasses since EPA report went out in 1993; and now even more efficiently (scratching the scratch) than ever before COP's all annually over 4 and some with PRIORITY on Demand (by separate temp control) HW production IN cooling modes for 100% real priority HW
one can find WHY certain (1981 patented) non-WF non-CM non-Trane non-FHP non-Econaire non-Hydron/GeoComforts are beating the closest GT Heat Pump competition with a 12% margin in KY Schools closely tracked since 2004- blasting all with results in ASHRAE 2008 and since::: Hydro - Temp com Hydro-Temp since 1978 the 2nd oldest OEM GT HtP (is not hydro-delta; nor hydro-heat which do not do simultaneous 100% HW on demand in cooling mode)

These results can not be matched with a Water:water plus a forced air "priority" HW as some are claiming--- it MAKES a DIFFERENCE with Hydro-Temp dual compressor; IRD-Palm read-out and programmable 4zone controller (4 zones since 1996 OEM built in...)
And 3 staging to 4 staging compressors of small to larger to both to a second being 2 speed is OUTPERFORMING variables in set up labors and any concerned replacements! and AR, TN . KY and even though attempted blocked... OH commercial and residential get the best ROI - all points considered... with only Hydro-Temp (why is Iq var air ht p, mini's and Daiken-likes comparatively and tracked.. being totally ignored compared to hydro-Temp practitioning in schools, and other applications?
Proprietary GC Red Board Georgia Controls in Hydro-Temp makes for use separately bettering use on other projects with separate staged machines as an installed addition for even under 1200 bucks compared to others 2500+ costs in industrial to commercial staging and heat recovery and reprogramable capabilities !

Dear 6.12 STS kw system (2006), the ISO manages electricity supply to the grid in California and does not account for all the energy supplied in the state. As of March 2012, geothermal energy in California had a capacity of 2615 MWe with another 31 projects being developed by 11 different companies. These projects account for up to 1766 MWe of geothermal resource development over the next few years.

There are geothermal resources that have been declining, like The Geysers in northern California, but efforts are ongoing to re-invigorate the resources. Waste water from a local town is being pumped into the underground reservoir to re-supply water resources. New Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) technology promises to harvest geothermal energy from new areas.

California can get more of its electricity from renewable resources - Geothermal is strategically placed to answer the call.

I wish "greens", like this site, would count nuclear power as geothermal energy and embrace it. Maybe then we could give fossil fuels the real well deserved kick in the pants.

Ian,

We had a small party at our place on New Years Day and I was interested in what was happening with the grid that day and the two years prior on that day. Like you I went to the ISO web site to see what generation source, other then my PV system, was providing us energy during the day. I noticed an interesting trend for Geothermal output as noted below:


Geothermal 24 hour Production by year for December 25th

Peak(MW) Daily Total (MWh)
2010 1060 24242
2011 999 22896
2012 928 21275

It looks like the peak and total daily output is dropping over time for geothermal. I assume the fields are a bit less productive and this is showing up in the ISO data.

It looks like the increased demand for electrical energy during the early evening on the 25th was met by increasing the output of 1) the hydro facilities, 2) imports and 3) the thermal resources per the output by hour data available at ISO on this page at their web site-

http://content.caiso.com/green/renewrpt/20121225_DailyRenewablesWatch.txt

Although the U.S.A. generates only about 0.3% of its electricity from geothermal sources, it is the single largest generator of geothermal energy in the world. About 30% of global geothermal generation is done in the U.S.A.

In the U.S.A., California is far and away the largest producer of geothermal power. With an installed capacity of over 1800 megawatts, only two nations in the world have more geothermal generation than California, although there are many places with more capacity for geothermal development.

The 'hidden gift' from Mother Earth - Geothermal energy !

[Shudder!] Don't you know that "baseload energy" should be "expletive deleted" for the comfort of solar and wind fanciers? :-)

Most politicians and journalists have trouble enough remembering the two worst forms of green energy. Why should anyone think they should be burdened with adding baseload green energy to their limited capacity minds so that the world can be saved from hellfire caused by fossil fuels?