The Geothermal Energy Association, a group that is effectively the geothermal industry’s lobby in Washington, D.C., is sponsoring another Development and Finance Workshop. We’ve attended two of these and can say, for people trying to break into geothermal, they’re a value-added event. Also, like all of these events, it’s proven to be an excellent networking opportunity. This one will be in Las Vegas at the Bally Hotel, Wednesday, January 16, 2008. The session runs from 8-5 and a reception follows.

Session Topics:

• The outlook for state renewable energy laws, federal tax incentives, and other key incentives for expanding geothermal energy production in the West.
• New avenues for financial support of geothermal projects – green power, climate credits, and other approaches.
• Geothermal investing from a variety of viewpoints, including the financing, investing, and marketing of new projects.
• Geothermal project development basics from leading project developers.
• New projects under development: what, where and by whom.
• Geothermal resources in the West – overview and key issues to address for development

So, if you’re interested in geothermal project development and you’d like to get a jump start, we recommend attending this workshop.

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Via CNN:

The House of Representatives passed the first major increase in fuel economy standards in more than 30 years with a 235-181 vote. The energy bill requires automakers to raise their average fuel economy standard by 40 percent to 35 miles per gallon by 2020. The current standard — 27.5 mpg for cars and 22.2 for trucks –was passed in 1975.

…

The bill also includes a mandate that electric utility companies generate 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources of energy such as wind, biomass or solar power by 2020. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, argued the “renewable energy standard” leaves out some technologies like clean coal and hydrogen, and is “almost impossible to meet” by most states.

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While not reported in this story, the bill also extends production tax credits until 2012, which will stimulate renewable power project development as it reduces the risk to finance these projects. The Senate will likely approve the bill and it will then face a veto by lame-duck President Bush.

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Have you ever wondered why geothermal goes so incognito when the renewable electricity market is so visible? There could be a number of reasons, but we believe it has to do with accessibility to the public and ease of identifying resources.

Photo Credit The Pennine Way

When a lay-person sees the tree above, they can easily posit that wind contributed to the unique shape of the tree. And, since we know generally how trees grow, it’s easy to deduce that there is strong, consistent wind current present in that area. Thus, when people think about wind as a renewable resource, it’s accessible. There is no magic: wind exists and like a child’s pinwheel, it can cause things to move which is sufficient to make the connection.


Photo Credit The Safari Company

When a lay-person sees the photo above, they can reason that it is dry and that it’s likely that the sun shines there on a routine basis and rain/cloud cover aren’t the norm for the region. The connection between a strong sun presence and the potential for energy is very clear to humans, it’s accessible.


Photo Credit: UNR

Now contrast the image above with the tree and desert. What do you observe about the physical characteristics of this land? Does it look like this might be a place one could harness natural resources to generate renewable electricity? This photo happens to be from Nevada’s Dixie Valley, a known geothermal resource area. There is a functioning 60MW geothermal plant in close proximity. The only surface manifestations of the energy potential are hot springs. It’s much less accessible to a lay-person thinking about hot, fractured rocks with super-critical heated water trapped under a cap rock waiting to escape. Can you visualize it? Unless you’ve been around the industry or have a geology background, the chances are that it’s tough to comprehend.

The journal Live Science took a page from VH1’s “Where are they now?” publishing an article on “Whatever happened to Geothermal?” It’s an interesting article and covers many of the issues. Given that geothermal is the only baseload renewable power source (yes gravity hydro is close, but until droughts are solved, it’s not quite baseload) it seems inevitable that geothermal will be “rediscovered” as an energy source.

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Coso Geothermal Field – Photo Credit: UNR


Via PRNewswire:

Caithness Coso Funding Corp. (the “Company”) announced the pricing terms of its previously announced tender offers and consent solicitations for any and all of its outstanding $90,000,000 original principal amount of 6.263% Subordinated Secured Notes due 2014 (CUSIP Nos. 128017AK6 and U12295AD0) (the “2014 Notes”) and its $375,000,000 original principal amount of 5.489% Senior Secured Bonds due 2019 (CUSIP Nos. 128017AG5 and U12295AC2) (the “2019 Bonds” and, together with the 2014 Notes, the “Notes”). The tender offers and the related consent solicitations are subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Company’s Offer to Purchase and Consent Solicitation Statement, dated September 18, 2007, and the accompanying Consent and Letter of Transmittal
(together, the “Offer Documents”).

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This deal continues to drag on, but the release shows that progress is being made. The Coso Geothermal plants make up the bulk of the generation assets in the ArcLight Renewco deal and this needed to be sorted out clearly – particularly with respect to the operating agreements in place with the US Government for those assets.

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Via Yahoo News:

The plant originally commenced the test phase of power production on October 18th and operated over a six-day period until October 23rd, during which time it ran for 108 hours and generated a total of 1,022 gross megawatt-hours of electrical power. On October 21st the plant operated for 24 hours and produced a peak output of 13.2 megawatts. The first revenue from the test run has been received from Idaho Power Company.

The plant will now continue an approximate sixty to ninety-day start-up and testing phase during which time all generated electricity is being sold. Plant operations are being scheduled to allow for operator training, equipment testing and for Ormat Nevada Inc. to complete power plant performance testing and other completion obligations.

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US Geothermal is keeping to its announced timing around the project, despite unforeseen problems, which is good news for investors.

Disclosure: The principals of MeV hold no position in US Geothermal.

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