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Dive Brief:
Deploying commercially mature next-generation geothermal systems in California could reduce the state’s annual electricity supply costs by around $44 billion beginning in 2045, the state’s legal deadline for 100% of its electric retail sales to be carbon-free, according to a Clean Air Task Force report that was shared first with Utility Dive.
This would represent a 52% cost reduction, the report’s authors said, “compared with scenarios where [next-generation geothermal] power and other clean firm generation technologies are unavailable due to development barriers.” On the lower end of their estimate, this deployment would reduce costs by an estimated $10 billion, or 23%.
“The need for interregional transmission expansion, which can be particularly challenging, is reduced by 28% to 53% in scenarios where [enhanced geothermal] can be built in California,” the report said.
