Archive for January, 2010
Sierra Geothermal starts deep well at Silver Peak
In Canada, Sierra Geothermal Power Corp. said it has begun drilling of a core-slim-well at its Silver Peak project. The well, #38-11, will be drilled to a maximum depth of 7,000 feet, targets multiple zones of interest and is the first deep well test at the site. Well 38-11 is funded on a 50:50 cost [...]
Mighty River Power project begins power delivery
In New Zealand, state-owned Mighty River Power said it is a step closer to completing its $430 million Nga Awa Purua geothermal power station. The company said testing at the station was conducted over the weekend and and electricity was added to the national grid. According to the company’s Acting Communications Manager Mark Hanson, Nga [...]
Canadian GEA releases public reporting code
In Canada, the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association (CanGEA) released the Canadian Geothermal Code for Public Reporting. The code provides a minimum set of requirements for the public reporting of exploration results, geothermal resources and geothermal reserves. CanGEA said the code would provide a basis for transparency, consistency and confidence in the public reporting of geothermal [...]
Sierra Geothermal ups proxy fight anti
In Canada, Sierra Geothermal Power Corp. challenged its dissident shareholder to correct what it called errors, deficiencies and misrepresentations in the dissident’s proxy circular and additional materials. In a letter to the dissident, the company listed four general points of contention. They are that the circular misrepresents Sierra’s position regarding a takeover, misrepresents Sierra’s financings [...]
DOE steps up on induced seismicity: New EGS safeguards in the works
In Washington, D.C., the Department of Energy will impose new safeguards on geothermal energy projects that include deep rock fracturing in order to mitigate earthquake risk, according to a recent report in the New York Times. The Times based the item on documents provided to it by the DOE.
Ground-motion sensors and other data will [...]
New York forum puts GT in the spotlight
In New York City, the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) hosted the geothermal energy finance forum at the Ritz Carlton. In attendance were financiers, politicians and project developers. The event also featured a lunchtime keynote speech by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. He told the crowd that “Nevada already has about 450 megawatts of [...]
EPRI talking “single well geothermal”
In Washington, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is said to have a project investigating a new type of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) – single well geothermal. The piece cited claims single well geothermal has a lower environmental impact, less ground water contamination, and produces fewer seismic events, but does not explain how. The technology [...]
This Week in Geothermal Opinion: GEA has high hopes for geothermal energy
Karl Gawell, executive director of the Geothermal Energy Association tells Paul Glader of the Wall Street Journal that the industry is adding 144 geothermal power plants in 14 states, says. That’s up from 121 projects on the books last March and a 73% increase from the 83 projects underway two years ago. “We’ve added 200 [...]
Steam purity monitoring system gets Philippine patent
In the Philippines, an on-line steam purity monitoring system belonging to Energy Development Corp. has earned a patentfrom the Intellectual Property Office. The system, installed in all the company’s project sites since 1996, provides continuous real time data on geothermal steam supplied during normal plant operations for immediate response to system upsets. Prior to this, [...]
GreenFire, AltaRock in CO2G partnership
In Utah, GreenFire Energy and AltaRock Energy of California have partnered on a technology sublicense agreement for a patent for the use of CO2 as the working fluid for geothermal energy plants. GreenFire says the CO2G™ method will produce geothermal energy while also sequestering large volumes of CO2. The company aims to be the first [...]
