Frequently Asked Questions

The colors indicate the status category:

• Announced: Proposed projects that have been described in corporate or government plans or media releases but have not yet taken concrete steps such as applying for permits.
• Pre-construction: Projects that are actively moving forward in seeking governmental approvals, land rights, or financing.
• Construction: Site preparation and equipment installation are underway.
• Shelved: Suspension of operation has been announced, or no progress has been observed for at least two years.
• Cancelled: A cancellation announcement has been made, or no progress has been observed for at least four years.
• Operating: The project has been formally commissioned; commercial operation has begun.
• Mothballed: The project is disused, but not dismantled.
• Retired: The project has been decommissioned.

Each geothermal unit location is marked “exact” or “approximate.” In the case of exact coordinates, locations are either specifically identified on a mapping service such as Google Maps, Open Street Maps, etc., or gathered from company or government documentation. If the location of a geothermal unit or proposal is not known, Global Energy Monitor identifies the most accurate location possible based on available information.

The numbers tell the number of phases at each location. To find information on each phase, click on the number, then select one of the colored dots.

If a project is still in the pre-operational phases (announced, pre-construction, or construction), there may be no sign of activity. In other cases, only approximate location information could be found. Finally, satellite photos in some geographies are updated infrequently, so recent activity is not shown.

Location accuracy improves as plants move from early stages of development toward operation. To find out the coordinates of a location and whether a location is exact or approximate, click on the location dot, select the wiki page, and look under “Project Details.”

The objective of the tracker is to provide information on geothermal power plant units with capacities of 30 megawatts (MW) or more. The tracker includes every geothermal power plant unit at this capacity threshold of any status, including operating, announced, pre-construction, under construction, shelved, cancelled, mothballed, or retired. We have also begun including smaller projects for some countries.

Capacity is measured in megawatts, and refers to the collective nameplate capacity of the geothermal power plant unit.

The tracker provides separate data on each of the multiple facilities that typically exist at a particular location. Each of these facilities is referred to as a “unit”. The entire collection of units at a given location is referred to as a “plant”.

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The tracker was designed and produced by Global Energy Monitor, a network of researchers seeking to develop collaborative informational resources on fossil fuel impacts and alternatives.

Please refer to the Download Data page for citation guidance.