Apparently little happened in the way of new, operational
geothermal plants in 2011, if you look at the Geothermal Energy
Association's 2012 annual Power Production and Development
report. Although the United States remains in the lead globally
in terms of installed capacity with 3,187 MW, only 91 MW of
additional capacity came on line last year (not subtracting for
replaced capacity). And nearly 50 MW of this additional
installed capacity was at a single plant: the Hudson Ranch 1 in
California. That's not to say the geothermal industry hasn't
been working hard. The number of plants in development and the
breadth of technologies and geographical area have certainly
grown. As of the GEA reporting period, 147 projects are in
development (including 17 that are unconfirmed) that could
result in roughly 4,900 to 5,300 MW of installed capacity if
completed. Geothermal development has long been centered in
western states. But according to GEA, "developers are
increasingly exploring for and developing conventional hy