According to the new market research report 'Global Geothermal Power and Heat Pump Market Outlook: (2010-2015)', published by MarketsandMarkets, the global geothermal installed capacity, including power generation and direct use, is expected to grow from 61,200 MW in 2010 to 120,300 MW in 2015 at an estimated CAGR of 14% for the same period.
The main driving factors in the geothermal market are environment-friendliness and lower operating and maintenance cost when compared to conventional fuels. The favorable policy and regulation framework and recent investment activities by governments and venture capitalists are boosting the development of the geothermal energy market. However, the growth in the market is impacted by higher initial cost and limited geographical availability of resources. All these reasons make Europe and Americas leading regions in direct use and geothermal power generation respectively.
The global cumulative installations of geothermal heat pumps are expected to grow from 2.94 million in 2010 to 5.66 million in 2015 at an estimated CAGR of 14% for the same period. The major countries using geothermal heat pumps are Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and U.S. The major portion .i.e. around 67% of geothermal energy available for direct use is utilized by geothermal heat pumps for space/district heating requirements.
