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Released January 19, 2017 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--With Donald Trump one day away from stepping into the Oval Office, his nominees for key energy-related posts, such as Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Energy and Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), have been doing their best to convince senators that they are fit for the jobs. But Trump's transition team is hearing from another vocal group: Leading companies in the U.S. geothermal industry, which released a statement titled "Geothermal is Good for America."
Industrial Info is tracking $3.19 billion in active U.S. projects that generate power from geothermal energy. However, all but one of these projects are in the planning stages, where plenty of factors could increase, decrease or eliminate the expected spending.
Although Trump took a skeptical attitude toward the benefits of renewable energy on the campaign trail, his Cabinet nominees generally have adopted a more supportive stance. The Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) hopes to convince them that there is as much potential in their product as in wind, solar or hydropower.
"Geothermal delivers a triple bottom line to our energy system: It is an abundant domestic energy source, it brings economic benefits in the form of taxes and long term high-paying jobs, and it has one of the lowest-levelized costs of energy of all power sources in the United States," the industry group said in the statement. They added that geothermal supports "on-demand services, such as load-following or energy-imbalance services, spinning reserves, non-spinning reserves, and replacement or supplemental reserves. This helps load-serving entities avoid additional costs from purchasing and then balancing intermittent resources with storage or new transmission."
More than half of the total investment value (TIV) is attributed to projects in California, headed by CE Obsidian Energy LLC's proposed Black Rock Power Station in Calipatria, which consists of the $795 million initial pair of units and a $795 million additional pair. Each phase would include the construction of two single-flash power blocks that would generate 159 megawatts (MW), for a total output of 318 MW. Currently, the projects are expected to begin construction in second-quarter 2020 and second-quarter 2022, respectively. CE Obsidian Energy is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated (NYSE:BRK.A) (Omaha, Nebraska). For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the initial pair and the additional pair of units.
The only active U.S. geothermal project tracked by Industrial Info to have moved beyond the planning phases is Cyrq Energy Incorporated's (Salt Lake City, Utah) $120 million Unit 3 addition at the Soda Lake Geothermal Power Station in Fallon, Nevada. Last month, Ormat Nevada Incorporated, a subsidiary of Ormat Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:ORA) (Reno, Nevada), signed a $36 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Cyrq to provide an air-cooled Ormat Energy Converter. Cyrq expects the 16-MW unit to be online by the end of summer 2018. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
Nevada also is home to one of the largest domestic proposals for a geothermal power plant: Gradient Resources Incorporated's (Bend, Oregon) $500 million Colado Geothermal Power Plant near Lovelock. If constructed, the 121-MW, binary-cycle facility would be driven by an undetermined number of turbo expander generators. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
It's too early to tell exactly how the Trump administration will view the role of geothermal in the domestic energy mix. But the GEA may have Trump's ear on one of the president-elect's pet issues--competition with China. "Exciting opportunities in extracting minerals from geothermal brines could bring the U.S. new sources of lithium, zinc, manganese, potash and rare-earth minerals, now dominated by China," the GEA said in its statement.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
Industrial Info is tracking $3.19 billion in active U.S. projects that generate power from geothermal energy. However, all but one of these projects are in the planning stages, where plenty of factors could increase, decrease or eliminate the expected spending.
Although Trump took a skeptical attitude toward the benefits of renewable energy on the campaign trail, his Cabinet nominees generally have adopted a more supportive stance. The Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) hopes to convince them that there is as much potential in their product as in wind, solar or hydropower.
"Geothermal delivers a triple bottom line to our energy system: It is an abundant domestic energy source, it brings economic benefits in the form of taxes and long term high-paying jobs, and it has one of the lowest-levelized costs of energy of all power sources in the United States," the industry group said in the statement. They added that geothermal supports "on-demand services, such as load-following or energy-imbalance services, spinning reserves, non-spinning reserves, and replacement or supplemental reserves. This helps load-serving entities avoid additional costs from purchasing and then balancing intermittent resources with storage or new transmission."
More than half of the total investment value (TIV) is attributed to projects in California, headed by CE Obsidian Energy LLC's proposed Black Rock Power Station in Calipatria, which consists of the $795 million initial pair of units and a $795 million additional pair. Each phase would include the construction of two single-flash power blocks that would generate 159 megawatts (MW), for a total output of 318 MW. Currently, the projects are expected to begin construction in second-quarter 2020 and second-quarter 2022, respectively. CE Obsidian Energy is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated (NYSE:BRK.A) (Omaha, Nebraska). For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the initial pair and the additional pair of units.
The only active U.S. geothermal project tracked by Industrial Info to have moved beyond the planning phases is Cyrq Energy Incorporated's (Salt Lake City, Utah) $120 million Unit 3 addition at the Soda Lake Geothermal Power Station in Fallon, Nevada. Last month, Ormat Nevada Incorporated, a subsidiary of Ormat Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:ORA) (Reno, Nevada), signed a $36 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Cyrq to provide an air-cooled Ormat Energy Converter. Cyrq expects the 16-MW unit to be online by the end of summer 2018. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
Nevada also is home to one of the largest domestic proposals for a geothermal power plant: Gradient Resources Incorporated's (Bend, Oregon) $500 million Colado Geothermal Power Plant near Lovelock. If constructed, the 121-MW, binary-cycle facility would be driven by an undetermined number of turbo expander generators. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
It's too early to tell exactly how the Trump administration will view the role of geothermal in the domestic energy mix. But the GEA may have Trump's ear on one of the president-elect's pet issues--competition with China. "Exciting opportunities in extracting minerals from geothermal brines could bring the U.S. new sources of lithium, zinc, manganese, potash and rare-earth minerals, now dominated by China," the GEA said in its statement.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
