It's All in the Code

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First came a standardized code, then the project database.

The Canadian Geothermal Energy Association (CanGEA) recently released its CanGEA Member Projects Database [3], about five months after it established a code that basically answered the question: what does a megawatt of geothermal energy look like?

"Really, it was the Wild West out there," said Brian Toohey, co-chair of the code committee of the CanGEA. "Especially when you're dealing with a subsurface resource. When you look at a wind turbine or solar, you know what you're getting."

Toohey said that different evaluation methods and reporting standards created uncertainty in the market. And with the geothermal industry having $1 billion in market capitalization on the Toronto Stock Exchange, that wasn't a trivial matter.

"We wanted to make sure that the market understood that one megawatt in Iceland is the same as one megawatt in Canadian British Columbia," Toohey said. The code and project database work in tandem.

The intent is to view the resource similar to the way Canadian federal securities regulators quantify mining or oil and gas reserves, where scandals had occurred.

Right now, the code is the industry's effort at self-regulation. In 2011, acceptance of the standards will be mandatory for CanGEA membership. "We're not trying to be heavy-handed in this. We are looking for feedback, as it's a living document," he said.

Toohey said credit needs to be given to the Australian industry, which had the first standardized reporting system. That resource base is different than many others, as they work with more enhanced geothermal systems. The Canadian resource base is more traditional.

The report, the first of its kind, outlines all the various CanGEA member projects under development around the world. Besides the technical analysis, economic, marketing, environmental, social, legal and regulatory factors are all considered in a site evaluation.

According to the report, CanGEA members are currently working on more than 70 projects under development representing more than 1,400 megawatts, and nearly 2,000 megawatts of installed geothermal capacity. 

And as the industry grows as its companies hope, the code and database set the standards.

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