Geothermal Digest » Project News

Chena Hot Springs project to get $1 million geothermal grant

admin — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 20:35:23 +0000

In Alaska, the Chena Hot Springs Resort will receive a $1 million federal grant to help research and develop geothermal power at the site. Entrepreneur Bernie Karl has already built a geothermal plant at the hot springs, but the grants, which will actually go to the Fairbanks North Star Borough, will be used to model, research and possibly expand the geothermal project at the hot springs. The grant comes from the Department of Energy and Chena Hot Springs is to match the federal grant, about $910,000 after subtracting government administrative costs, dollar-for-dollar.

Agency signs PPA for new Geysers power plant

admin — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 19:29:42 +0000

In Nevada, Ram Power, Corp. subsidiary Western GeoPower, Inc. (WGP) has signed an amended and restated power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Northern California Power Agency (NCPA). The deal purchases of all energy and available environmental attributes from WGP’s proposed geothermal power plant at The Geysers Geothermal Field. The PPA adjusts the purchase price, updates the milestones for completion of the project, adjusts the expected capacity of the project to 26 MW and extends the term of the agreement from 20 to 25 years.

Suit filed to stop geothermal plant expansion

admin — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 22:06:20 +0000

In California, the Friends of Cobb Mountain are suing Lake County to stop the planned expansion of a nearby the Bottle Rock geothermal power plant. The group says the environmental impact report on expansion is inadequate and is asking the court to set aside certification of the impact report, but says they are not against the project itself. County officials approved the report.

USG signs 25 year PPA for the San Emidio project

admin — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 22:00:38 +0000

In Idaho, U.S. Geothermal Inc. subsidiary USG Nevada LLC has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with NV Energy for an annual average of up to 19.9 MW of energy from the San Emidio Geothermal Project in Washoe County, Nevada. The 25-year PPA anticipates the development of two electric power generation units at San Emidio. Company officials also made a visit to the TAS Energy Inc. plant in Houston, TX to inspect the progress of the San Emidio power plant manufacturing, and added more photos of the project’s progress.

Pegmatite Mountain project finds opposition

admin — Sun, 29 May 2011 20:43:52 +0000

In Alaska, the Inside Passage Electrical Cooperative (IPEC) and Alaska native corporation Sealaska are looking at a Pegmatite Mountain site for potential geothermal development. However, the city of Tenakee Springs is moving to block the move. Tenakee says it is not practical for them and that they are already looking at hydro power sources. There are also watershed disruption concerns and worry about increased road construction and boat traffic. IPEC has applied for an Alaska Renewable Energy Fund grant for the project. Sealaska can tap funds that IPEC cannot.

Raft River well repairs underway

admin — Sun, 22 May 2011 17:43:18 +0000

In Idaho, U.S. Geothermal Inc. has signed a Repair Services Agreement between its wholly owned subsidiary US Geothermal Services and Raft River Energy I LLC for the repair of two production wells, RRG-2 and RRG-7, at Unit 1 of the Raft River project. USG Services will fund and manage the repairs with a budget of up to $1.65 million. The cost of the repairs will be repaid from future project cash flow. RRG-2 was shut down in June 2010 after a pump failure. RRG-7 has a leak in a cement seal that failed where two steel casing sections overlap, allowing cooler geothermal fluid to enter the well bore.

NGP updates fives projects

admin — Sun, 15 May 2011 18:38:38 +0000

In Canada, Nevada Geothermal Power Inc. updated the status of on-going work at five projects: Blue Mountain, Pumpernickel, and North Valley in Nevada; Iceland America Asset Purchase, in Imperial Valley, California; and Crump Geyser in Oregon. At Blue Mountain, plant production has been steadily improved to 35-37 MW (net) and the company plans to continue with exploration drilling of the Western and South Blue Mountain target areas. A $3.2 million DOE cost-shared exploration program has been transferred from North Valley to the Pumpernickel Project while a $300,000 deep confirmation well program is scheduled to begin shortly pending receipt of access road permits at North Valley. In Imperial Valley, the agreement to purchase the New Truckhaven, East Brawley and South Brawley high temperature geothermal projects is expected to close shortly. And at Crump Geyser, a deep well drilling program to test targets down to 5000 feet is underway as are power market and transmission access feasibility studies.

Wind farm competing with geothermal project expansion

admin — Sun, 08 May 2011 20:10:43 +0000

In Hawaii, the owners of the Pikini Nui wind farm, Tawhiri Power, are panning a planned 8 MW expansion of the Puna Geothermal Venture. Tawhiri Power is concerned the additional geothermal energy could cause “severe economic damage to the company.” Ormat Technologies, owners of the geothermal plant, have signed an agreement with Hawaii Electric Light Co. to add the 8 MW, which remains under review by the state Public Utilities Commission.

U.S. Geothermal updates progress at Neal Hot Springs

admin — Sun, 08 May 2011 20:00:08 +0000

In Idaho, U.S. Geothermal released additional photos from the Neal Hot Springs site. Photos show two drill rigs and a completed office building. Drilling is underway for injection well field development. The large drill rig is drilling well NHS12, located approximately 1.2 miles west of the power plant site, and is to a depth of about 500 feet with a target depth of 5000 feet. The smaller rig is drilling a thermal gradient well about 1 mile due south of the power plant site and is about 1600 feet deep with a target depth of 2800 feet.

New binary technology added to Beowawe plant

admin — Sun, 01 May 2011 21:18:37 +0000

In Nevada, Terra-Gen Power and TAS Energy hosted an Open House at the Beowawe geothermal plant to celebrate a new binary technology facility developed with the support of a U.S. Department of Energy stimulus grant. The new organic rankine cycle facility at Beowawe produces an extra 2 MW from heat normally in geothermal brine that regularly goes to waste, achieving a nearly 20% increase in electrical capacity at the plant. The project alone added or sustained 19 jobs during the course of 2010 and 95% of he content of the project was created in the U.S.