Electricity demand is rising as artificial intelligence, manufacturing reshoring, and electrification drive new power needs worldwide. That is putting renewed focus on geothermal power, a renewable energy source that can run around the clock.

Unlike solar or wind, geothermal plants generate electricity using heat from beneath the Earth’s surface, making them a reliable source of always-on clean power.

This treemap visualization ranks countries by installed geothermal power capacity, based on data from Global Energy Monitor, showing where this underground energy resource is most developed today.

Geothermal Power By Country

Dive into the data, which considered geothermal sites with one megawatt of operating capacity or more, below:

The U.S. dominates geothermal production with a capacity of 3,734 megawatts, topping the next largest producer by 1,300 megawatts.

That said, Asia as a region leads in production. While sitting in second and third place, Indonesia and the Philippines surpass the U.S. when counted together, at 2,432 and 1,937 megawatts, respectively.

Their position on the “Ring of Fire,” where three tectonic plates collide and create volcanic activity, means they have vast geothermal potential.

The Americas also sit on major geothermal resources, though many fields remain underdeveloped. Some countries have developed their resources more quickly. Mexico ranks sixth globally with 941 MW of capacity.

Italy, the home of geothermal, and Iceland are Europe’s biggest producers at 834 megawatts and 779 megawatts respectively. Though Europe leads on renewables more broadly, geothermal is physically limited to these few volcanic countries.

Iceland has a large capacity relative to its population and has one of the more developed geothermal industries globally, heating around 85% of houses in the country.

Kenya is the only African country to make the list, with its 817 megawatts of power capacity. Appetite to exploit geothermal in the Great Rift Valley, a tectonic trench spanning several countries on the continent, has increased in recent years but the industry remains young.

The Growing Potential of Geothermal

Globally, geothermal makes up just 1% of global electricity demand, but more and more sites are becoming viable thanks to advances in technology.

Existing geothermal plants harness energy from sites with highly permeable rocks, often under a thin layer of crust, making it easier to extract. Newer techniques, known as enhanced geothermal, include fracturing rock to unlock heat and push it to the surface by using a fluid. Next generation geothermal could account for 15% of global electricity demand growth to 2050, per the IEA.

As re-shoring industries and the build out of AI continues at pace, the availability of energy will dictate where manufacturing hubs emerge. Geothermal can operate 24-hours a day, seven days a week, making it particularly compelling as a base load power that is currently serviced by fossil fuels.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/geothermal-power-by-country/