Review of two decade geothermal energy development in Iran, benefits, challenges, and future policy

There is broad consensus that renewable energies have to play a more critical role in our future energy society. A suitable policy and development strategy plays a great role in the status of the renewable energy fraction in the total energy supply of the countries. In this paper, the status of two-decade geothermal energy development in Iran is summarized. A brief of the geothermal activities in Iran is pointed and the benefits of the geothermal developments in National Development Plan (NDP) are analyzed. There is a wide range of managerial, technical, and regulatory challenges preventing the logistic progress of the geothermal projects in the world in general and some challenges in the first (NW Sabalan) geothermal project in Iran, in particular. The main disputes and obstacles in the first geothermal project are lack of national and local legislation, poor management of human resources, and inability in technology transfer. To attain a suitable geothermal resource development one can apply policy changes by establishing new national and local legislation, human resource development by internationally training the scientists and engineers, and persuading them to continue working in geothermal projects.