Via Yahoo News:

BOISE, Idaho, Aug. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — U.S. Geothermal Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: UGTH, TSX.V: GTH) (the “Company”) is pleased to announce that the Toronto Stock Exchange has conditionally approved the Company’s application for listing its common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Listing is subject to the Company fulfilling certain specified conditions of the Toronto Stock Exchange on or before November 21, 2007.

About US Geothermal Inc
U.S. Geothermal is a renewable energy development company that is currently building a 13 megawatt geothermal power project at Raft River, Idaho and conducting exploration activities at Neal Hot Springs, Oregon.

This marks the first movement of the handful of geothermal companies financed on the Toronto Venture Exchange to a mature market. Congrats US Geothermal.

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Olkaria II Plant


Electricity generator KenGen yesterday signed a contract with Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the construction of a 35 megawatts geothermal power plant at Olkaria II. Installation of a third machine at the power station, which was commissioned four year ago, will boost the country’s geothermal production from 130 MW to 165 MW.

Kenya’s current geothermal capacity comprises KenGen Olkaria I (45MW), Olkaria II (70MW , Orpower (13MW), Oserian Development Company (2MW). However potential exists for up to 2,000 MW of geothermal energy in the Kenyan Rift Valley. Two months ago KenGen and Great Wall Drilling Company (GWDC) of China began drilling geothermal wells, setting the stage for development of another 70 MW at Olkaria IV.

The Olkaria II plant will be funded by KenGen (Sh2.9 billion), the International Development Association (Sh1.5 billion) and the French arm for international development (Sh1.7 billion). As a clean energy, the geothermal expansion project has qualified for carbon credits of about Sh800 million under the World Bank sponsored Clean Development Mechanism programme. The plant is scheduled to go online in 2009.

Kenya is grappling with the challenge of providing power to a resurgent economy that saw peak demand in the first six months of this year jump from 980 megawatts (MW) to 1,082 MW against a national electricity generation capacity of 1,045 MW. This peak demand exceeds capacity by about 4% and could serve as a governor to future economic development.

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Via Business Week online:

Many are in love with the idea of alternative energy. But there’s yet to be an economical alternative to petroleum that can generate large amounts of energy without damming up rivers, crowding the landscape with windmills, or generating radioactive waste.

That may be about to change, however, as interest grows in an emissions-free energy source that can generate power at prices competitive with traditional fuels. It’s virtually inexhaustible, and it’s right under your feet. It’s the heat emanating from the earth’s molten core, also known as geothermal energy.

Geothermal could have a major effect on the energy future of the U.S., according to a study published in January by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Using existing technology, there is the potential to generate geothermal energy in the U.S. equivalent to 2,000 times the country’s total energy consumption in 2005, the study says.

Read more…

Here’s the key question on geothermal development: If it’s OK to risk $10M on a petrochemical wildcat well, why is it not OK to risk $1M on a wildcat geothermal well? As one of our partners says, nearly all of the producing geothermal fields and plants (including those under development) are as a result of exploration that happened in the 1970’s. Where is the geothermal exploration program? What will it take to engage those with the geotechnical skills to engage in this segment? (We know, money, and lots of it.)

Our view is that as emissions restrictions tighten, carbon taxes become a reality, and peak oil has definitively happened, the talent will engage as geothermal power will be the next frontier. We know from attending the SMU conference that oil companies are starting to wake up, we know one project where Chevron is assembling its own geothermal data set (as one of our partners talked to the primary researcher doing the work.) Can we expect geothermal exploration in the near future?

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Aerial view of power plant (lower right corner)


One interesting site along the way to the visit to Sou Hills last week was the Brady Springs Power plant. Both the springs and the power plant are clearly visible and accessible off I-80 east of Reno (and Fernley) Nevada. This 27MW gross, 21MW net dual-flash plant has been in operation since 1992 and is owned and operated by Brady Power Partners, an Ormat subsidiary. In addition to the electricity production, a food processing plant is located right next door which takes advantage of direct use of hot water in their process.


Closeup view of power plant


One thing that is always striking about geothermal plants is their relatively small footprint and their relative cleanliness. While it is not clear from this level of detail, there are pipes all around the plant bringing the geothermal brine to the power plant and then to the food plant. These pipes are camoflauged and are small in comparison to their counterparts at the Geysers.

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Yesterday we made an initial trip to the parcel of land MeV won in the BLM auction earlier this month. This parcel is 1720 acres, about 2 and 2/3 sections. Initial walk through showed no obvious surface manifestations of geothermal activity on the property, though the valley floor has numerous springs and faults and the parcel is located in an area with high likelihood of geothermal activity (the Dixie Valley Geothermal plant is located a few miles away.)

Basalt and welded tuff were observed along with a large quantities limestone. There were several interesting geological features that merit further exploration as well. Transmission is present within 400 meters of the south boundary of the parcel. We now have an idea of what we’ve got (or not) and will develop a plan to more concretely determine the resource potential for this land. It was a fun and instructive day in the field.

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