Archive for September, 2010
World View: Iceland prods UN on GT adoption; and the industry adds three new players
In New York, United Nations Member States heard the message from Iceland’s Foreign Minister: Geothermal energy could answer a substantial part of the energy demands of many poorer countries. Össur Skarphédinsson added that it was time to consider initiatives to transfer expertise and financing to those nations in need.
And further, in what is [...]
Green Rock gets $7 million drilling grant
In Australia, Green Rock Energy has received a $7 million injection from the Commonwealth Government, under the Geothermal Drilling Program. Under the agreement, Green Rock is required to secure additional funding from other sources. Receipt of that funding, expected in November, will allow the first well to be drilled in the first half of 2011. [...]
GreenFire Energy announces grant for CO2-based GT R&D
In Utah, GreenFire Energy announced a $2 million grant award from the Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Program to investigate and evaluate the potential for low-temperature CO2-based geothermal power production technologies. The company’s suite of technologies, which it refers to as “CO2E,” uses geothermally heated and pressurized carbon dioxide in closed-loop systems to produce electricity. [...]
Town doing its own drilling for GT resource
In Washington, the town Snohomish is nearly finished drilling at five locations in the Cascade’s for geothermal energy. In what would seem to be a first in the U.S., the town’s Public Utility District is handling the work. PUD Senior Manager of energy Resource Development Craig Collar was quoted as saying “We are taking temperature [...]
Ground source system work on CO IKEA store finished
In Colorado, underground work is complete on IKEA’s Centenial store in the Denver-area. The store’s foundation and structure work can now begin. The system will use 130 holes, drilled 5.5 inches wide and 500 feet deep, for pipes to hold heat-transferring liquid circulating through underground loops. It will be used to both heat and cool [...]
Reservoir starts Serbian GT reservoir testing
In Canada, Reservoir Capital Corp. reported that its contractor Geofizika-Ing has completed equipment installation and initiated reservoir testing on the third-party owned VG-2 and VG-3 geothermal wells that lie within the company’s Vranjska Banja Geothermal Exploration License in southern Serbia. The company is running tests to measure water temperature, pressure, flow rates and chemistry, through [...]
USG drills new Neal Hot Springs wells; updates other projects
In Idaho, U.S. Geothermal Inc. updated its project development activities in Oregon, Nevada and Idaho. At Neal Hot Springs (OR), injection well NHS-10 has been drilled to a depth of 2,465 feet and successfully tested. Initial injection test analyses indicate that the well will sustain about 1,100 gallons per minute of fluid injection for [...]
Ormat gets $108 M cash grant for North Brawley
In Nevada, Ormat Technologies, Inc. has received $108.2 million for specified energy property in lieu of tax/credits relating to its North Brawley geothermal power plant under Section 1603, Division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Section 1603 program lets qualifying renewable power projects eligible for either the federal production tax [...]
SAIC tapped to help build San Emidio plant
In Virginia, Science Applications International Corp. has been awarded a contract by USG Nevada LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Geothermal Inc., to provide engineering, procurement and construction services for the phase one power plant for the San Emidio project in northwest Nevada. The contract has a 15 month period of performance and a contract [...]
Opinion: Growth in geothermal energy is in low temperature sources
Writing for Renewable Energy World, Leslie Blodgett of the Geothermal Energy Association says “Existing geothermal energy fields that have more untapped energy potential in leasable areas can be hard to come by. But this may not hamper the growth of geothermal energy projects. The reason, some experts say, is that low-temperature geothermal projects are becoming [...]
