Heat Mining Company LLC, said in a written statement that the use of sequestered carbon dioxide will allow electricity to be provided from many more sites than would be possible with conventional water-based systems and does it more economically.

“CO2 Plume Geothermal technology makes production of power using geothermal heat financially feasible, where water isn’t,” said Ken Carpenter, Managing Partner of South Dakota-based Heat startup.

“This technology sits at the convergence of two conflicting demands in our society: the need to burn fossil fuels for the foreseeable future and the desire to reduce carbon emissions,” Carpenter said.

CO2 Plume GeothermalTM (CPGTM) technology is an attractive solution for conventional fossil-fueled power plants, as it prevents emitted CO2, an environmental liability in the atmosphere, from being released to the air and uses it instead as the underground working fluid to extract geothermal heat for additional electricity production and/or district heating.

In the process, the CO2 is permanently stored underground, resulting in a geothermal power plant with not only a neutral, but even a negative carbon footprint. The geothermal power facility can produce base-load power or provide peak-load power and thus also serve as a type of high-efficiency back-up “battery” for only intermittently available wind or solar power.

“This technology has the potential to introduce a new era of electrical power production from renewable wind, solar, and geothermal energy as well as from traditional fossil fuels, while significantly reducing emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere,” said Martin Saar, co-inventor and earth sciences professor in the university’s College of Science and Engineering.

The University of Minnesota submitted the technology for patents in March 2009 and licensed it exclusively, worldwide to Heat Mining Company LLC through the Office for Technology Commercialization. The approach was invented by Saar, Postdoctoral Fellow Jimmy Randolph, and Mechanical Engineering Professor Thomas Kuehn.

Carbon capture and geologic CO2 sequestration is a fairly new solution for preventing CO2 emissions at fossil-fueled power plants. A typical coal-burning power plant produces between 3.5 and 5 million tons of CO2 per year, and it’s possible to retrofit existing plants, and design new plants, that capture the CO2 and sequester it underground.

With a CPGTM system tapping into the underground CO2 and using it as a heat extraction fluid, power produced from earth’s underground heat can be used for CO2 injection pumps while revenue from additional geothermal electricity sales can offset the very high costs of capturing the CO2 in the fossil-fueled power plant.

In addition to producing renewable energy and preventing emissions, CPG could someday provide large scale storage of solar and wind energy. The technology could also supply power for enhanced oil recovery projects that produce oil from fields that have nearly reached the end of their productive lives.

The CPG method has been demonstrated in computer simulations and details have been investigated in laboratory experiments. The next step is to build a pilot plant to test it in the field.

Saar’s research leading to the new technology was originally funded by the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE), a signature program of the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment (IonE).

The initial research resulted in a significant federal grant from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).”

Source: University of Minnesota

There have also been efforts by mining groups to evaluate revenue creation from abandoned mines. Now there is a “new study that might help predict how much energy could be harnessed from the heat collecting in abandoned mines.

Researchers from McGill University in Montreal stated using this kind of geothermal energy may possibly advantage as much as one million people in Canada and have even far better prospective for alot more densely populated countries such as Britain. By analysing the heat flow by means of mine tunnels flooded with water, the group has created a model that could be utilized to assess the thermal behaviour of a mine under distinct heat-extraction scenarios.

In a paper due to be published in the American Institute of Physics’ Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, the researchers calculate that each kilometre of a widespread deep underground mine could produce 150kW of heat.

As with other geothermal plants, hot mine water is often pumped towards the surface, the heat extracted as well as the cool water returned to the ground. But for this to be sustainable, the heat need to not be removed a lot more easily than it might be replenished by the surrounding rock.”

This could mean a big step ahead the utilization of abandoned mines.

Source: Sustainable Energy Systemz 

The achievement of commercial operation of the Phase I expansion at San Jacinto led to a major improvement in the financial performance of the Company. With $6.3 million in revenue and $2.7 million of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”) for the quarter, the Company took a major step toward generating the levels of cash flow necessary to be able to allocate resources to pipeline projects including Casita and the Geysers. In addition, cost controls implemented in the second half of 2011 have contributed to the increased level of profitability.

Additional highlights for the three months ended March 31, 2012 include:

• In January, the Phase I expansion at San Jacinto was placed into commercial operation;
• Total revenue for the three months was $6.3 million, up $5.3 million from the prior year quarter;
• EBITDA for the three months was $2.7 million, up $8.3 million from the prior year quarter;
• General and administrative expenses for the three months decreased $3.2 million, or 53%, from the prior year quarter; and
• The Company entered into a letter of intent with SNC-Lavalin for the construction of the Geysers Project.

For the three months ended March 31, 2012, the Company reported revenue of $6.3 million and a net loss of $2.4 million ($0.01 per share) versus revenue of $1 million and a net loss of $5.8 million ($0.04 per share) for the same period of the prior year. Increased revenue resulted from the San Jacinto-Tizate Phase I expansion being placed in service in January 2012.

EBITDA increased to $2.7 million for the current quarter versus negative EBITDA of $5.6 million in the prior year’s comparable period. The $8.3 million increase in EBITDA resulted from a $5.1 million increase in gross profit from San Jacinto operations, and a $3.2 million decrease in general and administrative expenses. Although EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure, the Company believes that many of its financial readers find it to be a useful in assessing the Company’s performance.

For the current period, the Company used $3.8 million for operating activities and $20.7 million for additions to geothermal properties and capital assets, including $20 million for the Phase I and II San Jacinto-Tizate expansion and $0.7 million for other exploration and development projects, with $21 million provided by the San Jacinto Phase II credit facility. At March 31, 2012, the Company had free cash of approximately $53.6 million, of which $40.9 million was held for use in the San Jacinto project.

Concurrent with today’s release, Shuman Moore, President and CEO of Ram Power, stated, “We are proud of the consistent operational results to date of our 36 MW net Phase I expansion of San Jacinto-Tizate, which commenced commercial operations this past January. Equally important, the Company continues to develop the San Jacinto-Tizate Phase II, 36 MW net expansion on time and on budget which when completed by year-end will provide another significant increase to revenue and EBITDA for fiscal year 2013. In addition, I am very pleased with the progress we have made with the Geysers project, and we are looking forward to finalizing the EPC contract for this project with SNC-Lavalin in the near term.”

Source: Company release via Marketwatch

EnergySource is holding a ceremony at its Hudson Ranch I geothermal power plant, the first stand-alone geothermal power plant at the Salton Sea resource in more than 20 years. The project represents a number of interesting milestones and facts that are interesting to mention. A rather unique and novice drilling finance by Icelandic bank Glitnir (now Islandsbanki), a successful multi-bank financing round for construction, cornerstone equity investment by GeoGlobal Energy (of New Zealand’s Mighty River Power), follow-up financing for Hudson Ranch II by turbine producer Fuji Electric and the exciting project to derive Lithium from the brine of the plant by Simbol Materials.

With more than 300 people expected to attend the event, it will see local, national and international guests attending.

Retired Vice Adm. Dennis V. McGinn, president of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) will present the keynote address during the dedication ceremony.

“EnergySource is pleased to have Admiral McGinn’s participation at our commissioning celebration,” says Dave Watson, president and CEO of EnergySource. “As president of ACORE, he is a strong advocate for innovative government policy, public and private partnerships, and investments that promote clean energy growth and innovation. EnergySource supports his efforts which will help us, and companies like ours, deliver renewable power to utilities in their efforts to procure clean energy and rely less on fossil fuels.”

Additional event speakers are to include Michael Picker, senior advisor to Gov. Jerry Brown for renewable energy; Gary Wyatt, County of Imperial; John Pierre Menvielle, Imperial Irrigation District; Dave Watson, president and CEO, EnergySource; Juan Vargas, senator, 40th district; V. Manuel Perez, assembly member, 80th district.

EnergySource began construction of the $400 million Hudson Ranch I geothermal power plant in May 2010 and created more than 200 jobs during construction. Now in operation, the plant provides 55 full-time jobs in Imperial County. Today the plant is selling all of its energy, capacity and environmental attributes to Salt River Project, a public power utility and water provider serving the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, for a term of 30 years.

Hudson Ranch I and a second plant, Hudson Ranch II, will each generate enough power to serve 50,000 homes in the Southwestern region. EnergySource plans to commence drilling for Hudson Ranch II in the third quarter of this year and construction is scheduled for 2013.”

Source: Release by EnergySource

Sperring joins Scientific Drilling from National Oilwell Varco (NOV), a manufacturer of drilling, fishing and completion downhole technology serving the upstream oil and gas industry. Sperring joined the organization in 2005 and has held various leadership positions within the downhole division of NOV since 2007.

The main focus of Scientific Drilling clearly is on the oil and gas business, but SDI has also worked and serviced the geothermal sector, so in congratulating Jayme Sperring to his new position, I thought it would be interesting to ask him a few questions on the geothermal ambitions going forward.

How important do you believe will be the geothermal energy market for SDI going forward?  

We see the geothermal industry growing from 11GW to roughly 18 GW within the next six years. This growth will require rampant increased drilling activity which will drive demand for specialty drilling services such as directional and production logging. This demand expansion is very important to our diversified energy portfolio and in effort to avoid playing victim to the cyclical nature of the O&G market, Geothermal serves as a strategic element to our long term stability.  Scientific Drilling has been involved in the geothermal industry for over 30 years. We recognize the importance of clean, base-load, renewable power and want to support the growth of the industry in any way possible.

For any industrial development, environmental impact is a key topic of concern, so directional drilling is seen as a way of solving some of those concerns. E.g. in Japan, where the government mentions that directional drilling could allow geothermal development in or close to the national parks.

Directional drilling not only benefits the customer by reaching oil, gas, or geothermal reservoirs with limited surface areas, but it minimizes environmental degradation.  Japan has a unique situation where estimates state 80% of the undeveloped geothermal resource is within national park boundaries. Utilizing directional drilling expertise, Japan will enable well construction on the outskirts of their national parks, minimizing drilling pad surface locations while maximizing the capture of the geothermal resource.

What do you see as key markets for Scientific Drilling in its geothermal activities? 

Scientific Drilling recognizes Latin America, Asia Pacific, East Africa and Continental Europe as our key markets for incremental growth in geothermal (specifically Chile, Peru, Indonesia, Philippines, Kenya and Turkey). We are aggressively establishing ourselves in Latin America through joint venture allinaces and are expanding our business development efforts in Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa as we speak.

There is a strong competition among other oil drilling and service firms. Where do you see the strengths of Scientific Drilling in particular for serving the geothermal market?  

Scientific Drilling has traditionally differentiated itself by its innovative technology, specifically our gyroscopic technology which is the most accurate and durable in the industry. However, we recognize the rapid commoditization of product offerings and the growing challenge of technology differentiation.  That said, Scientific Drilling will be recognized for a customer experience that makes it easy to do business, delivering customer service and solutions to our customer’s drilling challenges. As an agile, independently operated service company, Scientific Drilling is able to capitalize on this quickly and separate from the competition.

I would like to thank Jayme for taking the time and wish him all the best in his new position.

Geothermal project development takes comparably longer than other renewable energy projects, which has been for years a concern. So uncertainties about government support and incentives schemes, but also lack in financing for projects are resulting in time delayed development and plants coming online.

While the industry has seen an increasing interest and growth in recent years, the lack of drilling finance for the last few years is resulting in rather slow growth in the U.S. So there are concerns that with the ever decreasing government support in the U.S. as laid out in a recent article by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (see article) that growth might stagnate or simply not happen.

So while there are a large number of projects in development with a potential of adding up to 4,900 MW to the grid in the U.S., the current number of drilling rigs drilling on geothermal projects in the U.S. today is rather devastating for any outlook made at the moment.

Currently the rig count is the lowest in the last five years, with currently only four drilling rigs drilling active on geothermal projects in the U.S.

In its monthly oil & gas drilling rig count, Baker Hughes provides an update on drilling rigs active in the North American and international markets. So while 2008 to 2010 saw some growth and stable number of rigs drilling on geothermal projects, the trend of 2011 and continuing into 2012 continues. It is a downward spiral.

No drilling means also no further growth in MW coming online.

Source: Baker Hughes Drilling Rig Count, ThinkGeoEnergy evaluation

The outlook is described as “rather bleak” with three companies recently having had to cancel their plans to go public in the U.S. in April of this year.

According to the article the main reason seem to be that “Green tech companies tend to dwell in emerging markets, rely on big government support and have yet to show their technologies will gain wide acceptance.  Investing them is riskier.” … and “if the overall stock market is tanking because of broader trends, such as poor job data or lower credit ratings for the U.S. and other countries, then investors will find even fewer reasons to put money in green tech stocks.”

Given the challenges of listed geothermal companies on the stock markets today, it is quite unlikely that there will be a different story for potential geothermal listings.

To read the article referred to see link below.

Source: Forbes

The plant has undergone component commissioning during the past three weeks and has operated at generation levels of up to 9 megawatts net (12 megawatts gross). During commissioning and performance testing, all power generated is sold under the PPA at a rate of $50.00 per megawatt-hour until commercial operation is achieved. Upon acceptance of commercial operation by NV Energy, the power rate will increase to $89.75 per megawatt-hour with a 1% annual escalation.

The EPC contractor is providing its services under a fixed price contract that includes financial guarantees for the original completion date and power output of the plant.”

Source: Company release via Marketwatch

Given stagnating power demand and the continued unclear regulatory framework in its home markets Italy and Spain, Enel Green Power aims at putting a corporate focus on emerging markets and to “raise its profile” in North America.

Enel Green Power is one of the largest geothermal power producers with large renewable energy operations across the world and geothermal energy operations in Italy, North America, Central and South America and Europe.

With its focus on emerging markets in Latin America, it will be interesting to see how fast the company pushes its projects in Chile among other Latin American countries.

As reported by Reuters the company plans to spend about EUR 6 billion ($7.9 billion) worldwide until 2016 to increase its overall power generation capacity by 4,300 MW from 7,100 MW (end of 2011) to 11,400 MW.

Source: Reuters

The legislation could expand geothermal energy production across the state by amending the Hawaii State Planning Act to encourage development of geothermal energy projects on state and public trust land.

“I really believe that the consumer should own the resource because it’s a mineral,” explained Sen. Malama Solomon, who introduced Senate Bills 2001 and 3003.

Geothermal energy is seen as a key option for the state to reach its clean energy goal of 70 percent of energy to come from renewable energy by 2030. Currently the state depends on diesel for most of its electricity supply, with only 10 percent coming from renewables.

Bingaman joins a host of minister-level speakers and geothermal executives who will present at the showcase. Confirmed speakers for the event, to be held on May 23 at the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.,  include Minister Emilio Rappaccioli, Ministry of Energy and Mining, Nicaragua; Dr. Fouad Ahmed Aye, Minister of Energy and Water, Republic of Djibouti; Friedo Sielemann, Counselor, Energy and Environment, German Embassy; Freddy Saragih, Fiscal Policy Board, Ministry of Finance, Indonesia; and Dr. Jerrol Thompson, Prime Minister’s Office St. Vincent & Grenadines. Industry speakers include Shuman Moore, CEO, Ram Power; Halley Dickey, Director Geothermal Business Development, TAS Energy; and John Fox, CEO, Electratherm.

“Senator Bingaman had been a leader in advancing policies to expand renewable energy production as one of the keys to a strong economy and environmentally-fit planet,” said Karl Gawell, Executive Director, GEA. “We are thrilled that he will share his vision of how government policies can help clean energy technologies grow with the distinguished roster of world and industry leaders attending the International Showcase.”

Hosted by GEA in alliance with the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of State and the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Showcase will highlight geothermal projects, policies and development from the world’s key geothermal markets including the Caribbean, Latin America, East Africa, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. The program will encourage interaction and discussion about government policies, projects in development, market potential and opportunities for U.S. companies. Attendees will also hear from U.S. government agencies involved in export assistance for geothermal companies, and from U.S. companies developing projects overseas. GEA has confirmed attendance from government and industry leaders representing 23 countries. These countries include Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Djibouti, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nevis, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Pakistan, the Philippines, Romania, Rwanda, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Tanzania, Turkey and the United States.”

Source: GEA release by email

Annual federal clean tech expenditure had already seen a drop by $10 billion between 2009 and 2011, now that the Recovery Act is wound down. But not a drop of more than 50% expected this year, there will be another decline in 2013 and 2014.

This essentially is devastating for all the renewable energy sectors that are not competitive with conventional energy resources or are dependent on incentives to help with development, such as for geothermal energy.

There is now talk about that despite the drop there won´t be a “clean tech crash”, but it will have to be seen if it will be possible to foster the development of well-designed policies with the upcoming presidential elections in the U.S. this fall and the deadlock between the two houses in Washington.

Source: Finance Yahoo

It is expected that the plant will start operate by the end of 2013 and will have cost approximately $126 million. The project has secured a 20-year power purchase agreement with local utility.

“We are pleased to begin another major geothermal project in the US, an industry in which EGP is already a strong player in that country, with two innovative systems using binary technology in Nevada, one of which, Stillwater, is also paired with a photovoltaic system, the first of its kind in the world,” said Francesco Starace, CEO of Enel Green Power (EGP). “Cove Fort will contribute its capacity to Enel Green Power’s existing net installed geothermal capacity in the US, currently amounting to 47MW.”

Source: Enel Green Power Release

Steve has over 30 years of leadership experience in the renewable energy industry including geothermal development and operations for companies including Unocal, Geothermal Resources International and FPL Energy (FPLE).

He helped develop over 100 MWs of geothermal resources at the Geysers geothermal field in northern California and led FPLE’s regulatory strategy for their 500 MWs of assets during the California energy crisis in 1999-2000. Most recently he was Director of Renewable Energy at NV Energy. He further served for years as a Board Member of the U.S. Geothermal Energy Association (GEA).

Steve obtained a BA and MA from the University of Southern California and a JD from Southwestern University.

Steve is committed to serving the global geothermal community and developing relationships that will enhance the development of geothermal energy utilization.”

Source: GRC release via PR Web

The key driver for the rating downgrade are:

Geothermal Resource Depletion: Coso’s average net capacity declined over 5% to 170 megawatts (MW) in 2011 from approximately 180MW in 2010. The continued decline in capacity is reducing revenues, and lowering cash flows to levels that are not sufficient to meet debt obligations.

Interesting fact is though that this would set the price at $7 million for 1 MW installed capacity, which seems outrageously high.

Production from the new plants could start as early as 2014 with expected construction duration of about 30 months.

Source: Press Democrat

The program starts June 18 and ends August 10, 2012. It features 8 modules of various elements on geothermal energy project development.

The University was chosen to host the eight-week session of courses last year by a cooperative of top geothermal schools due to its expertise in geothermal research and exploration and the abundance of geothermal activity in Nevada. Nevada has the largest amount of geothermal energy of any state in the nation, with local and national leaders pledging support and funding to help develop the technology necessary to both increase energy production and reduce its cost.

Last year the academy attracted a global audience due to increased demands for geothermal energy across the world.

“The National Geothermal Academy is drawing a strong student audience again in 2012, and international participation has increased significantly,” said Wendy Calvin, Director of the Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy. “We are creating a program that will benefit geothermal development not just in the state, but nationwide and worldwide.”

The academy runs from June 18 to Aug. 10, and features a wide variety of geothermal professionals and professors, including personnel from Cornell University, the University of Calgary, Southern Methodist University, the Oregon Institute of Technology, Stanford University, the University of Utah, and West Virginia University, as well as recognized industry leaders and consultants.

Attendees will visit a number of geothermal power production sites and plants to learn about the engineering and financing aspects of geothermal production. Topics covered during the eight-week course include geothermal energy utilization, geothermal geology and geochemistry, geophysics, drilling and reservoir engineering, power plant design and construction and environmental policy principles.

For more information about the academy, visit http://www.unr.edu/geothermal/NGA.htm

Source: University of Nevada, Reno via AltEnergyMag

The subcommittee of the state Environmental Council now heard from potential geothermal developers in the state on why the State Land Department should be allowed to waive certain environmental regulations.

The cost and timelines of the current rules make it restrictive to explore in this state,” said Bill Sherman, land manager for Ormat Technolgies, that owns the 30 megawatt geothermal plant in Puna on the Big Island.

After hearing testimony, the seven member subcommittee approved three environmental exemptions for geothermal exploration. They include non-invasive testing and analysis, the issuance of leases on state or reserved lands, and the drilling of exploration wells.”

On May 17, the full 15-member Environmental Council is to approve the exemptions, which would allow the State Land Department to drop costly environmental assessments from geothermal exploration projects.

Source: KITV

The head of Enel Green Power North America, Francesco Venturini and Governor Brian Sandoval were present at the inauguration ceremony at the plant and praised the plant for its unique combination of two renewable energy sources for power generation.

The combined plant has an installed capacity of 26 MW. At the ceremony Venturini said: “The integration of the two technologies brings significant benefits such as increasing production when thermal efficiency of he geothermal unit is lowest; more delivery during peak hours, enabling a more load-following production profile; cost savings due to shared infrastructure including transmission interconnection, and less environmental footprint per unit of renewable energy produce and delivered.”

He further praised the local utility NV Energy, the community and how Churchill County has backed the completion. The support of Senator Harry Reid also was very welcome along the way.

Video:

Source and further details about the plant: Lahonton Valley News

The winners will honored at the GRC Annual Member Meeting and Awards Luncheon, the climax to the GRC Annual Meeting being held at the Peppermill Resort Spa in Reno, Nevada, USA from September 30 – October 3. The theme for this year’s meeting is Geothermal: Reliable, Renewable, Global.

“The recipients of these awards often have a lifetime of achievement in the geothermal academic, scientific and commercial communities”, said GRC Interim Executive Director Steve Ponder. “The GRC Awards recognizes the contributions of these individuals to the geothermal sector.”

The Joseph W. Aidlin Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the Geothermal Resources Council and to the development of geothermal resources.

The Geothermal Pioneer Award is given for outstanding achievements in the development of geothermal resources. It recognizes the pioneering efforts of members of the geothermal community who have made lasting contributions to the industry, worldwide.

The Henry J. Ramey, Jr. Geothermal Reservoir Engineering Award recognizes outstanding achievements in the field of geothermal reservoir engineering.

The Ben Holt Geothermal Power Plant Award honors outstanding achievement in the field of geothermal power plant design and construction.

The Special Achievement Award recognizes special or outstanding achievements in any aspect of geothermal energy development and related areas.

More information on the GRC Awards, including a nomination form, can be found on the GRC website [www.geothermal.org . The deadline for nominations is June 29, 2012.

Source: GRC release via SF Gate

I think one of the interesting points I remember discussing with Susan on several occasions are the implications of EGS technology and the potential of using EGS technology for conventional geothermal projects today.

With the milestone of BLM approval now in place for the Newberry project, can you tell about the next steps for the project?

The next step in the Newberry Demonstrations is to drill four new boreholes and deepen a fifth for microseismic array (MSA). There are already an additional four boreholes that have already been drilled. Because the water table is very deep at Newberry and the surficial volcanic rocks attenuate seismic energy, these boreholes must be drilled to at least 700 feet. There is still 2-3 feet of snow at the drill sites, so we first need to plow out the roads. We will also be ordering seismic equipment and other long-lead items this month.

The seismic equipment should be delivered about the same time the final borehole is completed. Then we will install and test the MSA. As MSA near completion, other equipment, such as the pumps, water supply piping, and high pressure wellhead will arrive and be installed. If everything goes well, we will be ready to stimulate the EGS well in early fall. The season is short at Newberry, since the well site is at an elevation of 5800 ft (1800 m) and it usually starts snowing in November, so we hope to finish up before the snow accumulates again.

AltaRock is acting as a project developer but also develops new technology that helps to create geothermal reservoirs. Could you maybe give us a little more details?

Our primary focus is developing and using the technology for multi-zone stimulation. That includes technologies that we have developed ourselves, such as the thermally-degradable zonal isolation materials and hydroshearing modeling software, plus tools that we have incorporated into our EGS solution package, such as DTS (Distributed Temperature Sensing) and the MSA.

The US Department of Energy is funding about half of the cost of the Newberry EGS Demonstration which includes stimulation of the existing injector in 2012, drilling two production wells in 2013, and then running a circulation test on the triplet. If the circulation test results are as promising as we hope they will be, AltaRock and the lease owner, Davenport Newberry, will be looking for additional partners to continue development of the resource.

The EGS technology is not only interesting for the development of pure EGS projects, but could also help with conventional projects. Could you maybe elaborate a little on how your technology could help conventional geothermal projects?

Every conventional project has some wells that can be improved, either by increasing the well’s production or injection capacity. And the wells’ problems are often the same as in EGS, a single zone takes or produces most of the fluid. Further, typical geothermal completions, long open-holes or uncemented, slotted liners, limit the options to cost-effectively isolate the existing productive zone or zones, and stimulate new zones. Therefore, operators are very interested when we tell them that we have a new solution to make their idle wells productive, which does not require a rig for redrilling, recompleting, or installing packers.

The current market conditions for geothermal in North America are not easy and developers have problems raising the necessary financing to develop their projects. Is AltaRock exploring developing projects outside the U.S.?

We have been having conversations with developers on four continents about using our technologies. Each field success (we already have two), makes it easier to tell the story of our technology and garner interest from developers worldwide. Although the Newberry EGS Demonstration is a focus of the company in 2012, we also plan to do at least two other stimulations this year and hopefully up to five.

As a technology provider, when will your technology be available to developers and are you planning to sell it as a service or product?

Our technology is available as a service now! Overseas especially, the best value for the developer and quickest path to implement our solution will be the service model. Because our technology requires a multi-disciplinary, integrated plan and implementation, we don’t think the product model would be successful at this point in geothermal. We are rigging up right now to do a stimulation on a low productivity conventional geothermal well and are planning another one.

I would like to thank Susan for taking the time for providing this great insight into what is going on at AltaRock.

To follow the company’s activities check out its Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/NewberryEGS and the blog at : http://blog.newberrygeothermal.com

The competition is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. and is to “spark interest in geothermal careers and education” and the findings by the groups might then “be used by industry to develop new geothermal sites.”

In the competition now 10 student teams receive a $10,000 research stipend to cover expenses as they complete phase two of the competition and submit their reports by August 31, 2012.” The top three reports will then represent their results at the GRC Annual Meeting in September/ October 2012 in Reno, Nevada.

Details about the teams and the topics can be found via the link below.

Source: R&D Mag

The company expects the plant to be online by January 2014.

Source: Power Engineering

Speakers at the geothermal part of the event include Eduardo Iglesias of IIE, Peter Malin of the University of Auckland, Luis C.A. Guitiérrez-Negrín and José Luis Quijano of the Mexican Geothermal Association, and Enrique Guzman Lara of CRE.

Topics covered include: Understanding the Mexican Resource, Possibilities for private geothermal development and key learnings of geothermal contracts of 2011.

Details about the event can be found here.

Source: Green Power Conferences

The proposal as part of a “Consent to lease” has been published on the Forest Service Website, and states that the potential plant sites could be “sited on 15-25 acre plots”, on the southeast side of Mount Baker, west of Baker Lake.

Currently only the potential leasing by the Bureau of Land Management is considered, to establish how environmental impacts could be minimized. The lease could open 5,500 acres to power companies. There will be an additional public comment period “when specific exploration wells or plants are proposed.”

Public comments can be submitted until May 20, 2012 to eozog@fs.fed.us

In 2010 the Forest Service authorized geothermal leasing on 8,355 acres in the same area, west of Baker Lake. No proposals for exploration or development have been received so far.

Source: Bellingham Herald

According to local news the state Board of Land and Natural Resources is expected to consider today to grant a new geothermal mining lease for the state property in Pohoiki where the first producing geothermal well was drilled in the 1970s.

“The experimental HGP-A well went on-line in 1982, generating approximately 3 megawatts, roughly enough to power 1,500 homes.

Originally developed through a private-public partnership under the leadership of the US Department of Energy, in 1986 HGP-A was transferred to the state Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii.

Although it was designed to run for only two years, HGP-A continued producing electricity for eight years.

Rather than extend the geothermal mining lease, the staff of the Department of Land and Natural Resources has recommended cancelling the old lease for the HGP-A site and issuing a new one for 65 years. That will be taken up by the land board when it meets Friday in Honolulu.

Barbour said if the new lease is granted, NELHA plans to put out a request for information from companies interested in using the HGP-A site.”

For the full article and details see link below.

Source: Big Island Now

Terra-Gen had signed a 25-year PPA with the utility in 2010 under which the company was to build a 53 MW geothermal power plant near Reno in the state of Nevada. It was expected that the company would start delivering power under the contract in 2013. The price agreed on at the time was more than 11.25 cents per kWh as filed with the California Public Utilities Commission.

PG&E now reported that the contract had been terminated and the utility had withdrawn its previous request for approval of the contract.

Californian utilities and among them PG&E are required to source 33% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Geothermal is a popular source of energy for utilities under the scheme as it is able to deliver power around the clock.

Source: Fox Business

Fuji, as reported earlier this week, plans to strengthen its position supplying the industry its turbine technology through this investment. At the same time it proves the confidence the company has in the project and capabilities of EnergySource, that brought its Hudson Ranch I plant online this spring.

EnergySource plans to commence drilling mid-year for Hudson Ranch II, with plant construction to begin in 2013 and commercial operations in 2015. Like its recently completed Hudson Ranch I project, in which EnergySource first selected Fuji Electric steam turbine generator equipment, the new plant will generate 49 MW from one of the largest and highest temperature geothermal resources in North America, the Salton Sea resource in Imperial County, California. Fuji Electric is a leading supplier of steam turbine generator equipment to the geothermal sector and its investment will support EnergySource’s advancement of the Hudson Ranch II project.

“Fuji Electric supports accelerating renewable energy projects in the area of power generation. The company is committed to expanding and growing its geothermal power plant business as a major emphasis for the company,” said Naoto Yoneyama, Managing Executive Officer & Director of Fuji Electric. “With EnergySource’s successful commercial launch of Hudson Ranch I last month, Fuji Electric saw a great opportunity to invest in development of the second plant.”

Hudson Ranch I and Hudson Ranch II will each generate enough power to serve 50,000 homes in the Southwestern region.

“EnergySource is looking forward to bringing its second geothermal plant on-line and continuing to design and operate power plants in this very robust and dependable resource,” said Dave Watson, president and CEO of EnergySource. “Fuji Electric’s investment in our project will accelerate our timeline and our larger development plans to bring new capacity to California and Southwestern utilities in order to meet their state-mandated renewable energy requirements through the delivery of geothermal power.”

Source: EnergySource company release

The project, pending permitting and timing, could be the first geothermal power generation project in Canada. As Borealis explained to Richard Gleeson of CBC News during the broadcast, the project hopes to be the first of many, with lots of potential existing in Canada’s North that would be able to offset power generation from diesel fuel sources.

To view the news segment, please click here and then fast forward to the 35 minute mark of the broadcast.

Source: Borealis GeoPower

This step aims to strengthen its position in the global geothermal equipment market. There is no announcement of the name of the developer, but we will try to find out.

Vito Engineering, says “there is enough geothermal heat … to heat parts of the city’s downtown”. The company has done research to answer some critical voices that were quoting temperature readings of the mine were too old. The new research shows that there is “1.7 MW thermal energy which could be used to heat city buildings.”

Yellowknife city councillor Mark Heyck said there’s also something new that came out of Vito’s report.

“Because we would only be heating for eight or nine months of the year, you could use those remaining summer months to actually recharge the underground workings. It would basically become an energy storage battery that would be charged over the summer,” Heyck said.

“There’s various methods of doing that; could be using waste heat from some location, or solar thermal collectors that charge the underground which actually expands the size of the resource available to us when we need it in the winter time.”

Heyck said confirming the temperatures in the defunct mine is only one step in the process.

“But certainly talking to the end use customers, those building owners in the downtown core who would ultimately use the energy. That’s going to be a big milestone for us once we bring those folks on side,” he said.

The city also still hopes to secure federal funding for the project.”

As far as I remember there was some funding available of around $14 million, which would have had to see additional debt financing by the city. This was previously voted against in a public referendum among the citizens of the city in the spring of 2011.

Source: CBC

But there were also positive voices in the meeting that support further development.

On the Big Island Video News website there is a video to be found taken at the meeting with the voices of the public present.

Source and Link to Video: Big Island Video News

Under the expected EPC contract, which is currently under negotiation, Ormat will provide two air-cooled Ormat Energy Converters for a geothermal power plant project in North America.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2013. Until the signature of the full EPC contract the parties have entered into an interim agreement in the amount of approximately $9 million for a limited scope of work to ensure timely completion of the project.

Yoram Bronicki, president and COO of Ormat said, “We are pleased to increase our backlog by this project which will continue the strong product segment performance. This development will incorporate Ormat’s low-operating-cost design and our consistent project completion standards.”

Source: Company release via Marketwatch

The oil and gas industry has forever seen water as an unwanted by-product of its production and has mostly seen it as a waste by-product. With increasing energy cost, this – in most of the cases – hot water, could be utilized for power generation in binary systems. So with stimulus funding the RMOTC is now testing a variety of different binary units for the generation of power from wells co-producing oil and water.

With proving this technology thousands of abandoned oil & gas wells, or wells still in production could be used as a new source of clean energy. For this one has to know that areas like Texas and many other regions in the U.S and globally essentially have a large number of oil and gas wells that could easily serve as a source of energy. Oil and gas companies always have collected a large number of data sets for each well they drilled that they actually have probably a better understanding of the geothermal potential than most of the geological surveys in those regions or countries. While there are states and countries that make it a requirement that those drilling data sets are be shared, in many geographical regions this has not been the case. So the vast amount of data held by the oil companies, could show a tremendous value, for the oil and gas companies, but also for the general drive to cleaner sources of power.

In the U.S. it is estimated that there about 800,000 oil and gas fields with probably a marg-fold number of wells drilled, which could be in the millions.

Traditionally the water found in oil & gas production is hot, but not hot enough to utilize steam for electricity generation. Therefore binary systems are used. Those utilize a fluid that boils at lower temperatures, which in turn turn a turbine and attached generator for electricity generation. As those binary systems are a closed-loop system, they have no emissions.

The demonstration unit at RMOTC today produces about 250 kW of power. RMOTC works with industry, academics and others to field test a variety of products and processes near Casper, Wyoming.

The interesting element for utilizing this technology for geothermal, would be that one would be able to save the drilling cost for those power projects, as wells have already been drilled. So while the current unit is small and generates little electricity, a production-scale unit could handle more water and producer more electricity.

For oil & gas production this could mean that parts of its energy need could be fueled by hot water from oil & gas wells, making it a bit of a greener source of energy.

Source: Billings Gazette

Successful selection to present at the GRC 2012 Annual Meeting is prestigious and recognizes the presenter as a top industry expert. International participation is key to the success of the GRC Annual Meeting technical programs and we encourage geothermal researchers and experts from around the world to submit their work for consideration to be presented at the GRC 2012 Annual Meeting.

ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PRESENT A PAPER AT THE GRC ANNUAL MEETING MUST SUBMIT A PAPER! PLEASE NOTE, THE GRC IS NO LONGER REQUIRING AN ABSTRACT TO BE SUBMITTED FIRST.  WE ARE REQUIRING COMPLETED DRAFTPAPERS AS THE FIRST STEP.

Authors may submit an oral technical presentation and/or poster at the GRC’s 2012 Annual Meeting.

The Draft Paper submission deadline is May 4, 2012.

Please direct all content related questions to:

• Frank Monastero at monasterofc@gmail.com
• Lisa Shevenell at lisaas@unr.edu

Please direct all format and general submission questions to:

• Anh Lay at alay@geothermal.org or (530) 758-2360 ext. 100

• Business Development / Finance
• Basin & Range / Cascades / Rocky Mountains
• Direct Use / Heat Pump
• Enhanced Geothermal Systems
• Exploration / Resource Assessment / Management
• Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry
• Geothermal Energy Associated with Oil and Gas Operations
• Geothermal Project Case Studies
• International
• Power Operations / Maintenance / Production Technologies
• Regulatory / Environmental Compliance / Policy Issues
• Utility and Transmission Issues
• Other _____________

INSTRUCTIONS TO SUBMIT YOUR DRAFT PAPER:

To Submit Electronically (preferred):

-Email your completed draft paper and submission form to Anh Lay at alay@geothermal.org by May 4, 2012

1. A completed draft paper with all illustrations (including tables, figures, charts, photos, and maps) embedded within the text. The file must be in word or PDF format.
• Please include a minimum of 5-10 keywords below the title and author(s) on the first page of your paper(s).
• References to published literature must be fully cited at the end of the paper. Unreliable sources such as Wikipedia must never be cited.
2. A Completed submission form (please remember to save after you filled out the form and then email the saved form).

Source: Geothermal Resources Council

The David Suzuki Foundation is a non-government foundation focused on environmental protection, climate change and nature conservation and a leading force in the Canadian climate change debate.

The recent report highlights the fact that indeed the provinces in Canada “are leading the way in the fight against climate change” and not the federal government.

“In the absence of significant national policies to combat climate change, some provinces are stepping in with their own plans and policies. But those plans vary widely, according to, “All Over the Map 2012: A Comparison of Provincial Climate Change Plans”, by the David Suzuki Foundation.

The report doesn’t rank any province as “Best” for its climate initiatives, but Quebec, Ontario and B.C. rank as “Very Good”, while Alberta and Saskatchewan rank as “Worst”.

“The report shows that stronger leadership from the provinces is crucial given the lack of effort from the federal government,” said David Suzuki Foundation climate change and clean energy specialist Ian Bruce. “Applying the best policies and practices of the provinces on a national scale would benefit human health and the environment and would also provide a level playing field for businesses.”

The report highlights the fact that Alberta and Saskatchewan remain at the bottom of the list of Canadian provinces and the main drivers of Canada’s rising emissions because of the “continued reliance on polluting fossil fuel industries.”

“Leading provinces are prioritizing clean-energy policies that Canadians recognize are vital in the transition from overuse of natural resources to a cleaner, more innovative economy,” Bruce said. “These provinces show that Canada could make progress and become a world leader in solving global warming if the federal government joined forces.”

The report points particular fingers towards the federal government, highlighting the fact that any federal programs – “even when they exist – are ineffective and are getting weaker.”

When one looks at the geothermal potential in Canada, the provinces of particular interest and with resource potential are British Columbia (BC), Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.

Of those only BC is still considered to be “very good” in the ranking of climate change legislation and efforts, while the Northwest Territories and Yukon are ranked “fair” or “poor”. But the main issue here are the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

With its strong economic growth fueled by a growing oil sector, these provinces should be in the best position to support efforts on mitigating climate change and also could be considered in the  need of it as they are also the largest emitters in Canada.

So hopefully pointed criticism of an association like the David Suzuki Foundation will help wake up politicians in those provinces to support renewable energy technologies. Geothermal energy is a valid option in those provinces and should be supported under wider support schemes.

Source: David Suzuki Foundation

The company is now close to the completion of the design phase for its technology and is looking for a small geothermal well to test a scale model of the technology.

The company has made headlines in the last 12 months through adding industry veterans to its board including Lou Capuano (formerly CEO of ThermaSource) and Hezy Ram (formerly CEO of Ram Power).

The company is developing its technology, called Gravity Head Energy System (GHES), utilizing gravity instead of pumps to capture energy from geothermal water reservoirs to be utilized in a binary power system.

“In a conventional binary,” said Dave Marshall, CFO of GeoTek, “if you’re producing, say, two-and-a-half megawatts (enough to power roughly 2,500 homes), you’re using almost 500 kw to just run your production pump. That’s what is referred to as ‘parasitic load.’” He said another 110 kw is needed to run the working fluid pump, bringing the total parasitic load to 610 kw, or 24.4 percent of the total power produced. GeoTek states that, by eliminating those power needs, their system makes available 30 percent more power to the grid, a number arrived at by starting at the 1890 kwh actually available under standard systems and dividing the extra 610 kwh into that number.

The hot underground water still will flow to the surface in separate tubing from the heated working liquid. The water will then be reinjected in a well some distance away from the source well. The working liquid will be used to generate power, then recycled into the downhole heat exchanger.

With three liquid paths — the hot water flowing up and the working fluid cycling in both directions — the outside diameter of the well must be larger than most oil wells at a greater depth-13-3/8 OD down to as much as 2,000 feet. The GHES pump itself is only 5 inches OD.

While most traditional geothermal plants take five years to begin flowing power into the grid, Marshall expects the GHES system to begin producing power within two years of the start of construction and permitting.

The GHES system was first developed in the 1970s, during the first major energy crisis, but then shelved as the crisis eased. GeoTek, founded in 2004 by a group of local oil and gas investors who wanted to diversify their investments, wanted to further develop an existing system and bring it to market. After considering a number of possible technologies, the group decided to pursue the GHES model, in conjunction with engineers at Ortloff. The Ortloff engineers put their knowledge of gas processing procedures to work in the design, processes that are similar in many ways to the geothermal model, Marshall noted, citing heat transfer and thermosiphon loops in particular.

Years of development funded primarily by the investors began to appear on geothermal industry radar screens when, as Marshall stated, the engineers’ progress was enough to attract the attention of the Department of Energy. Both the DOE and the industry gave the company more feedback on their system. “That brought us to the point where we are literally within nine months of doing a field test of a prototype unit,” Marshall said.

The DOE has helped with some funding to this point, said Ken Fryrear, GeoTek’s COO, but they are not prepared to completely fund the field test. “It will be on a cost-sharing basis,” Fryrear said. “We will pay 60 percent of the cost and they will pay 40 percent,” subject to how Congress decides to fund this type of research.

Because most geothermal activity in North America is in the west, the company expects that to be the location of the test. However, Marshall was quick to point out that the heat exchanger and other components likely will be produced in the Permian Basin. He also noted that, despite some similarity with oil and gas production, using an abandoned oil or gas well for either the pilot program or for long-term power generation is not currently practical.

The small demonstration unit will deliver only a little power, but its only purpose is to prove the concept and to let engineers determine where design improvements are needed. Marshall hopes to find a currently operating geothermal company that will let GeoTek use a small diameter well for 90-120 days for the test.

From there GeoTek will design commercial units in two sizes, available late in 2012 and early in 2013. “Then the plan is (for us) to act as a licensing company, where we will license that technology to companies that are already experienced in manufacturing a lot of the surface equipment like the turbine generators.”

Source: My West Texas, under creative commons license: Attribution

In addition to World Bank and US agency officials, confirmed speakers for the event, to be held on May 23 at the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center in Washington, D.C., come from every region of the world. Confirmed speakers include Minister Emilio Rappaccioli, Ministry of Energy and Mining, Nicaragua; Dr. Fouad Ahmed aye, Minister of Energy and Water, Republic of Djibouti; Friedo Sielemann, Counselor, Energy and Environment, German Embassy; Freddy Saragih, Fiscal Policy Board, Ministry of Finance, Indonesia; Dr. Jerrol Thompson, Prime Minister’s Office St. Vincent & Grenadines, and many more.

“The Showcase will bring together the key government and industry leaders who will be making decisions about building thousands of new megawatts of geothermal power,” said Karl Gawell, GEA Executive Director. “GEA is excited to welcome leaders from around the globe to share their practical and insightful geothermal success stories. This is an opportunity for us all to explore and learn from each other about the best policies and approaches to expand geothermal power domestically and abroad.”

The GEA also announced that POWER Engineers and Galena Advisors will serve as Gold Level Sponsors for the event. Headquartered in Hailey, Idaho, POWER Engineers is a global consulting engineering firm specializing in the delivery of integrated solutions for energy, food and beverage, facilities, communications, environmental and federal markets.

“The GEA International Showcase is the perfect setting to demonstrate that U.S. geothermal businesses are leading the way in inventing and supplying geothermal power plants being developed in other countries,” said Mike Long, vice president of Galena Advisors, a division of POWER Engineers. “We’re seeing a great shift in activity as U.S. engineers and suppliers take on new geothermal project work in fast-growing markets overseas. POWER Engineers tips its hat to GEA for its energetic leadership in getting these success stories told.”

The event program will highlight geothermal projects, policies and development from the world’s key geothermal markets including the Caribbean, Latin America, East Africa, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. The program will encourage interaction and discussion about government policies, projects in development, market potential and opportunities for U.S. companies. Attendees will also hear from U.S. government agencies involved in export assistance for geothermal companies, and from U.S. companies developing projects overseas.

Geothermal power presently supplies the world with 10,715 MW of electricity in 24 countries, on six continents, but the potential to use geothermal resources is even greater. In a 2010 International Market Update, GEA identified 70 countries with new projects under development or consideration.  With the technology available today and under development for the future, geothermal resources could supply more than 300,000 MW of power, while producing far fewer carbon emissions than from legacy sources. U.S. companies export geothermal goods and services throughout the world, and with strong support from the administration’s Renewable Energy Export Initiative, the U.S. industry’s position as an international leader should flourish.

To register for the International Geothermal Energy Showcase, or for more information, please visit http://geo-energy.org/events/GEA_ShowCase_05_23_12.aspx.

The winners will be announced at the GRC Annual Member Meeting and Awards Luncheon, the climax to the GRC Annual Meeting being held at the Peppermill Resort Spa in Reno, Nevada, USA from September 30 –October 3. The theme for this year’s meeting is Geothermal: Reliable, Renewable, Global.

The first place winner will receive $150, second place – $100, and third place – $75. Honorable Mention photos will receive certificates.

Photographs on any subject related to geothermal energy can be submitted such as geothermal energy production, EGS, Direct Use and geothermal heat pumps. These can include photos of well testing, drilling, operation of geothermal equipment, newly developed equipment, or plant operation, construction of a geothermal plant or plant site, and geological areas or surface manifestations (holding potential for geothermal exploration or development).

More information on the GRC Amateur Photo Contest, including a submission form, can be found on the GRC website. The deadline for submissions is August 31, 2012. (another link: contest information details (pdf))

ThinkGeoEnergy also maintains a geothermal picture collection at www.flickr.com/thinkgeoenergy with all pictures being provided free of charge under a creative commons license. People can also share geothermal pictures via the Flickr Group of ThinkGeoEnergy at: www.flickr.com/groups/thinkgeoenergy/

In 2010 the University of North Dakota (UND) received two grants worth $1.7 million to install ORC systems at oilfields. The research project has plans to establish two demonstration sites of geothermal energy production this year at a  location near Rhame and one near Dickinson, North Dakota. The project is led by the Petroleum Research, Engineering, Education and Entrepreneurship Center of UND

Source: Energy North Dakota

For now nearly 30 years, the state of Nevada has generated power from geothermal energy and there are now 22 geothermal power plants operating in Nevada. They have a combined power generation capacity of 469 MW. “Estimated resource potential in the state is more than 2,000 megawatts, or twice the production of the hydroelectric plant at the Hoover Dam.

Nevada also leads the nation in the number of geothermal projects in development.

With geothermal research poised to be an important economic driver in the state, industry collaboration with higher education has become even more important, as stated in the governor’s new economic development plan. Geothermal energy development was identified as one of seven industries that can be advanced by such collaboration.

The University of Nevada, Reno is at the forefront of these initiatives in Nevada and across the country. University faculty and staff have been involved in the exploration for and discovery of new geothermal systems for more than a decade. Faculty involved in geothermal energy research span many departments in the College of Science and College of Engineering, with strong expertise in geology, geochemistry and geophysical methods to identify new systems.

Projects at the university, many funded by the Department of Energy, seek to identify favorable structural settings and occurrence models for geothermal systems, create comprehensive geothermal potential maps and help locate undiscovered or “hidden” resources. Our studies on fault controls, shallow temperature anomalies, remote sensing of geothermal indicators and water chemistry from springs has resulted in the discovery of more than 14 previously unknown geothermal systems in Nevada.

Why is Nevada in hot water?

Internationally, most geothermal systems are sited near existing volcanoes, where high heat flow is associated with molten rock near the surface. In northwestern Nevada and the surrounding Great Basin states, the Earth’s crust is extending at high rates, due in part to the influence of plate boundary motion associated with the San Andreas Fault system. Higher rates of extension generate higher heat flow and allow fluid flow along fault structures.

A geothermal power plant requires both high temperature and sufficient fluid flow to create electricity. Most commonly, hot water is brought up from a few kilometers underground and converted to steam, which is used to turn a turbine. The geothermal fluid is then re-injected into the ground, completing the loop.

Drill, baby, drill

While surface exploration can find the suggestion of a high heat flow, high-fluid-flow systems below ground, current geophysical methods and geological models only imperfectly “see” underground.

Ultimately, the only way to know if the system has sufficient heat and water to create an economically viable resource is to drill and test both the temperature and flow rate.

The high cost of deep drilling and historically low success rates (holes can either be too cold or dry) is one of the main factors limiting development of this sustainable, clean energy resource. Many have likened our system models for geothermal energy to where the oil and gas industries were in the 1950s. Ongoing activities at UNR can help identify drilling targets at numerous sites within the state and better understand known resources, helping to reduce the cost of exploration that the industry faces, as well as to maximize the odds for drilling in a productive location.

Geothermal academy

The university has been a leader in education as well, hosting the National Geothermal Academy, a consortium of top geothermal universities around the country, last summer. The consortium selected our university because of its proximity to drilling sites, power plants and heat sources, as well as for its leadership in multidisciplinary research that has led to discovering new technologies for exploration, production and development of geothermal resources.

The academy, entering in its second year, will educate and train the next generation of scientists, engineers and policymakers. Curriculum is designed to cover all aspects of geothermal energy development and utilization and is offered for either undergraduate or graduate credit, as well as professional development for the energy industry.

For more information, contact the Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy at geothermal@unr.edu or visit http://www.unr.edu/geothermal.

Wendy Calvin is director of the Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Located in the Deschutes National Forest in central Oregon, the purpose of the Newberry EGS project is to demonstrate AltaRock’s new technology designed to lower the cost of EGS, and thus allow economic extraction of heat from the earth in locations where high temperatures can be reached by conventional drilling techniques. Successful completion of the Demonstration will provide an exciting path forward to maximize the potential for geothermal energy development in the U.S. In issuing a FONSI, the regulatory agencies determined the project will not significantly affect the quality of the human or natural environment.

“Securing this authorization is a critical achievement for the Newberry EGS team having met national environmental policy and goals for the protection, maintenance and enhancement of the environment,” said Doug Perry, president and CEO of Davenport Newberry. “We are impressed with the BLM, Forest Service and Department of Energy’s efforts in conducting a comprehensive review and pleased with their ultimate approval. I am grateful to everyone who worked to reach this goal and look forward to implementing Phase II of the project.”

“Geothermal energy has the potential to meet a large share of our nation’s energy needs if we can demonstrate that we now have the technology to bring the price of EGS in line with existing utility rates,” said Susan Petty, president and founder of AltaRock Energy. “The Newberry EGS Demonstration will show that EGS can be an economically viable source of broad-scale 24/7 baseload renewable energy.”

The first phase of the Newberry EGS Project involving planning for the well stimulation, environmental studies and public outreach, recently reached completion. Key participants with AltaRock in the execution of Phase I included federal agencies (Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and Dept. of Energy), state agencies (Oregon Depts. of Geology and Mineral Industries, Environmental Quality, and Water Resources), government scientific labs (US Geological Survey and Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia National Laboratories), universities (Oregon State, Temple, and Texas A&M), and Davenport Newberry, the well and geothermal lease owner.

In Phase II of the Newberry EGS Demonstration, water will be injected into an existing hot well to create multiple reservoirs of connected cracks 6,500-11,000 feet below ground. Prior to the injection of water, an array of sensitive seismometers will be installed on the surface and in bore-holes for real-time monitoring of the EGS stimulation. Hydrologic monitoring will also be conducted during and after stimulation. Once the reservoirs are created, production wells will be drilled to intersect the stimulated fractures and flow tests will be conducted to evaluate the potential for using the EGS reservoirs as heat exchangers to produce electricity in the future. Phase II of the project is expected to be completed in 2014.”

Source: Company release via Marketwatch

The loan facility is expected to fund a portion of the development of the San Emidio North (Units 3 and 4) power project including the drilling of geothermal wells, related infrastructure and other development costs. GRC, the only USCIS approved Regional Center that is focused on the geothermal energy sector, plans to raise the capital through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program (the “EB-5 Program”). The EB-5 Program is designed for those foreign high net worth individuals who are interested in obtaining Permanent Residence status through investments in a commercial enterprise which are shown to have significant job creation benefits.

The San Emidio geothermal resource, located in Washoe County, Nevada, is divided into two separate sub-resources: San Emidio South under current development and San Emidio North under planned development. San Emidio South has been producing power since 1987, and a soon to be completed upgrade will triple the output of the project. San Emidio South is also developing Unit 2, a similar power plant module expected to produce 8.6 MW by Q4 2013. The San Emidio North project is planned to add 17.2 megawatts through construction of Units 3 and 4 subject to development of additional production wells, transmission access and a power sales agreement.”

“We are excited to support U.S. Geothermal, Inc. on this promising project and take a new step in growing our EB-5 Investor Program. We see great opportunities in the San Emidio Project and it is a win-win-win business for the geothermal energy industry in the U.S., our investors and the State of Nevada,” said Mr. Gonzalo Lopez Jordan, Managing Partner of Geothermal Regional Center.

The Geothermal Regional Center is supported by Glacier Securities that acts as project oversight consultant.

Source: Release by U.S. Geothermal, Release by Geothermal Regional Center

As geothermal projects need longer to be developed they are less vulnerable to an expiration of production tax credits in the U.S. For the wind sector, where the tax credits run out at the end of this year, this means an immediate drop in the order of turbines and a loss in jobs. For geothermal, where tax credits are not expiring until the end of 2013, this won´t have that immediate effect.

On international investment into the geothermal market, Bloomberg New Energy Finance sees the Asian market attracting a majority of funds. Over 50 percent of investment into the geothermal sector will go to Asia due to “the number of late-stage projects, high-grade resources and increasing policy support.” It is also expected that Japan will see an increase in geothermal power capacity to up to 2,000 MW in the next 10-20 years.

Source: Bloomberg

This event will bring together those focused on developing geothermal energy in oil/gas fields or related sedimentary basin projects.  The 2 hour afternoon networking session is designed to build stronger geothermal teams and to coincide with a luncheon lecture organized by the Maguire Energy Institute for the oil and gas industry.

The Frank Pitts Lecture, from noon to 1:30 pm, provides an additional networking opportunity for the geothermal industry to interact with over 100 oil and gas industry leaders.  After the luncheon, the geothermal participants will meet.  Several participants will kick us off with informal 5 minute highlights of what’s happening in the industry, followed by an open networking period for an exchange of your ideas towards developing geothermal ‘plays’, then finish off with the last 20 minutes to create the “next-step actions for geothermal success” list.  The Texas Legislative session begins in January 2013.  The list will be used for legislative items and to assist the SMU Geothermal Lab in our focus on geothermal development projects.

April 18, 2012,  2 to 4 pm, Hughes-Trigg Ballroom East, SMU Campus, Dallas

–> Registration

Source: Announcement by e-mail

The plant is then expected to be operational by the end of 2013, which seems a bit ambitious. The plant would be New Mexico’s first commercial geothermal power plant.

Source: New Mexico Business Weekly

The report highlights that 91 MW of geothermal power generation capacity were added to the grid in the U.S. last year.

“Currently, geothermal electric power generation is occurring in eight U.S. states, including Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming. An additional seven states—Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas and Washington—have geothermal capacity in development. California continues to lead the way when it comes to geothermal energy. The Golden State ranks first in overall installed capacity, with 2,615 MW already online, and it has nearly 2,000 MW of capacity in development. Nevada is also ahead of the pack, with 59 projects currently in development, more than any other state.

The implementation of binary geothermal technology has enabled the industry to develop lower temperature resources, which has expanded the geothermal industry’s geographical footprint beyond California, especially in the last decade. “Demonstrating the abilities of geothermal systems to produce power from lower temperature systems, such as oil and gas coproduced geothermal, is pushing out the boundaries for geothermal power to encompass over a third of the U.S.,” said GEA Executive Director Karl Gawell.

“We’ve seen slow but steady growth for geothermal, even in a challenging economy. The drivers for that growth have been state renewable portfolio standards, federal tax credits, DOE demonstration project support, and the fact that utility scale geothermal energy offers clean baseload energy that’s competitive with other clean energy technologies,” Gawell said. “The geothermal industry looks to our policy leaders to provide a stable environment to foster growth that could lead the U.S. toward greater energy independence.”

Gawell continued: “With federal tax credits expiring at the end of 2013, many new geothermal power plants cannot count on federal help. Most plants need between four and eight years of lead time before the geothermal resource is on tap. As Washington debates whether or not to extend renewable energy tax incentives, the industry struggles to continue steady growth. Stable tax credit policies would further enhance this development. State policies also continued to support new development, but need to better recognize the full value of geothermal, particularly its contribution to the reliability of the power system.”

In the past year, capacity was installed by four different geothermal companies. Energy Source completed its 49.9 MW Hudson Ranch I project in Imperial Valley, Calif. during the first quarter of 2012, while Ormat Technologies finished 26 MW worth of projects over the past year. Terra-Gen completed a 1.9 MW expansion project in Nevada, and U.S. Geothermal expanded electricity generation at its San Emidio resource that replaced old generating equipment at the site with a new 12.75 MW power plant.

“As the economy strengthens, our industry is expected to bring even more geothermal capacity online in the coming years,” Gawell said. “In 2012, another 100 MW of capacity is expected to come online representing nearly one billion dollars of investment in the clean energy economy.”

“The US geothermal industry continues to be actively engaged in a faster growing world market, which is helping many companies through the slack in the U.S.,” Gawell noted. According to the Department of Commerce, geothermal is one of only two renewables that exports more than it imports in the United States. Geothermal equipment manufacturers and service providers exist in almost every state and are able to provide jobs in states such as Georgia and Oklahoma and then export goods abroad.”

The report is available via geo-energy.org

Source: GEA release

The release provides some interesting insight into the operation of both plants. Financial rating agencies are providing credit ratings and the reports highlight arguments for a particular rating of the financial vehicle, here the affirmation of the “BBB-” rating with a “stable” outlook.

According to the release there is extensive planned capital enhancements at Heber 1 planned by the company.

“Heber 1 has been showing typical geothermal fluid losses over the last few years that have reduced its production. OrCal is addressing the performance of Heber 1 by drilling new wells over the next 12-18 months with the expectation of  bringing on incremental production in the coming years, which Fitch views as supportive of the current rating. In  addition, OrCal is planning significant discretionary modernizations of the turbine and generator equipment as well as balance of plant upgrades that could benefit Heber 1 longer term.

The production enhancements at Heber 1 are expected to be paid through an existing subordinated loan agreement from OrCal.”

“OrCal is negotiating with various parties to sign a new PPA to replace an SRAC-based PPA that expires in 2015 for 48% of the project’s total capacity. OrCal’s status as a qualifying facility and a base-load renewable generator puts its power in demand in California.

OrCal is a special-purpose company created to acquire the Heber 1 and Heber 2 geothermal power facilities (the Heber power plants) located in Imperial County, CA. The Heber power plants sell electric energy and capacity to SCE under two
separate Standard Offer No. 4 PPAs expiring 2015 and 2023. OrCal also owns the Gould 1 and Gould 2 plants which consist of a series of upgrades designed to enhance production and operating efficiency at the Heber power plants. The Heber South power plant, which became operational in 2008, supplies energy to Southern California Public Power Authority under a separate fixed-price PPA.

OrCal is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Ormat Technologies, Inc.

Source: Fitch Ratings release via Reuters

The briefing was hosted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, a long time supporter of geothermal energy in the U.S. The briefing featured Karl Gawell, Executive Director of the U.S. Geothermal Energy Association, David Blackwell, Professor of Geophysics at SMU and a foremost expert in geothermal mapping, as well as James Faulds, professor at the University of Nevada-Reno and director of the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology.

The briefing outlined the variety of techniques available for geothermal power production, accessibility of unconventional geothermal resources across the U.S. and the opportunities of a technology cross-over from the oil and gas industry.

The session has been on of a series of congressional briefings on “the science and technology to achieve the nation’s energy goals, titled collectively, “The Road to the New Energy Economy”.” It was organized by the National Science Foundation, Discover Magazine, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

David Blackwell of SMU highlighted the research done by SMU on mapping the geothermal resources of the U.S.

Source: PhysOrg

The proposed geothermal exploration project consists of 610 acres of public lands within the lease area. The EA analyzes potential impacts from the proposed exploration and testing activities proposed by Ormat. The primary objective of the project is to further evaluate the characteristics of the geothermal resources in the Tungsten Mountain Project Area.

The proposed activities include:

• Constructing 27 exploration well drill pads
• Construct and maintain a 5-acre mineral material pit
• Constructing, improving or maintaining access roads
• Drilling and completing an exploration well to a depth of about 7,000 feet from each of the constructed drill pads
• Flow testing exploration wells to obtain samples of geothermal fluids and to collect aquifer information from the geothermal reservoir
• Drilling temporary water wells at one or more proposed drill

The documents may be reviewed online at www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/carson_city_field/blm_information/nepa.html

Source: KRNV News 4, Reno, Nevada