Geothermal Expansion in China

Today’s post will examine geothermal energy in China. People’s Daily Online posted a story from Xinhua in February on efforts to further tap Chinese thermal energy. As with most English language stories on Xinhua, the text is matter of fact and the facts are a matter of Xinhua. The story, while brief, does acknowledge an aspect of Chinese energy policy and development that is often over shadowed by stories on energy security and fossil fuels. Overall, the goal is to expand the use of geothermal energy in China to 50 million tonnes of coal equivalent (TCE). The link provides a definition and several energy conversions, most notably the number of megawatt hours (MWh) produced. Electricity production and development is crucial to China and its development.

Chinese domestic energy concerns have been focused on overall expansion of capacity in order to continue economic development. This has included not only increasing energy production but also expansion of infrastructure as well. Traditionally, this development has been undertaken using China’s plentiful and cheap coal resources. However, in recent years China’s coal production has found it hard to keep up with demand. Expansion of geothermal production will provide some relief to this problem as China is estimated to have significant reserves and production capabilities. The expansion of geothermal energy production would provide some level of domestic energy security and much desired pollution reduction.

An additional aspect of China’s geothermal expansion is the potential for export and resale. China’s increasing footprint in the developing world could provide manufactures of geothermal technology easy access to untouched markets. A large part of Southeast Asia and east Africa have potential for geothermal development. Ethiopia is looking to capitalize on its extensive geothermal potential. While the country is working with its own development bank and the World Bank, Chinese assistance was crucial to the creation of the new African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa. This relationship can easily play to China’s advantage and its Africa policy.

While there is great potential for geothermal growth in China, barriers do exist. A report released by Deblock Consulting outlined some of the technological obsticale faced by the geothermal power industry in China. Firstly, progress is slow with regards to technological application and limited to mid to low level geothermal energy sources. Secondly, exploration and development of geothermal sources has not made great progress either, further limiting its present applicability. Finally, a lack of standardizaiton and R&D has also emerged as a hinderance to geothermal energy development. All of this issues will have to be met in order for China to fully capture its geothermal energy potential both domestically and internationally. Once this is done, China will not only be able to increase its electrical generation capacity, but also provide much needed enrivonmentally friendly power sources domestically and internationally.