Stimulus Bill Has Put Almost 8 GW of Geothermal Energy on US Grid

The geothermal industry has begun an unprecedented expansion starting this year, as a record 7, 875 MW of geothermal projects broke ground, the Geothermal Market Update reports this week.

While the pre-deadline dash to break ground on new US solar projects has been getting all the coverage these last few months, the similarly deadline-driven geothermal projects have been able to break ground on time.

This means that many more of them qualify to receive a Federal grant of 30% of investment cost from the stimulus bill, for a total of $363 million in onetime US Recovery Act funding for geothermal energy. The stimulus funding will continue to be a significant driver of US geothermal development through 2011.

Stimulus Bill Has Put Almost 8 GW of Geothermal Energy on US Grid – CleanTechnica: Cleantech innovation news and views