Energy Central EnergyPulse Home
Home Subscribe Login Contribute to Energy Pulse Advertise on Energy Pulse About Energy Pulse Feedback to Energy Pulse
Search Articles:   
  You are here: Home > Future & Alternative Generation > Article Display


Free Newsletter
Sign up today for your free subscription to the EnergyPulse Weekly Update - delivered directly to your e-mail box.
e-mail:


 

Communicating Smart Meter Value

Sep 9 2010 - 2010-01-01 12:00:00 - Your City

If you are involved in Management or Customer Service and are responsible for communicating the value of smart meters to your utility customers, you don’t want to miss this online discussion - Communicating Smart Meter Value.  more...

Social Media: The new frontier in recruiting, communications and marketing

Sep 13 2010 - 2010-01-01 12:00:00 - Your City

Join social media mavens Matthew Burks and Amanda Shewmake as they provide an insider's perspective on how HR, communications and marketing professionals in energy companies can harness the power of social media to be more effective and productive. more...

Eliminating Obstacles and Delivering the Benefits of the Smart Grid - IBM's Optimized Energy Value Chain (OEVC)

Sep 14 2010 - 2010-01-01 12:00:00 - Your City

The convergence of power and information technologies in the smart grid has created opportunities for finer grained and broader controls of energy flows. These opportunities can improve electric service in multiple dimensions: lower cost, greater reliability, greater customer satisfaction, and more...

Achieving Operational Excellence - What to Consider Before Implementing or Upgrading Your Distribution Management Solutions

Sep 16 2010 - 2010-01-01 12:00:00 - Your City

Significant cost over runs. Changing business requirements. A well thought out plan is essential. Attend this free webcast discussion to hear inside hear three experts in utility operations discuss what utilities need to evaluate when they are considering upgrading or more...

Outsmarting the Smart Grid: IT, Security and Communication Infrastructure  Challenges & Opportunities for Utilities

Sep 21 2010 - 2010-01-01 12:00:00 - Your City

The smart grid is shifting the playing field for utilities. And when the game changes, it pays to be prepared. A nimble solutions partner can help you design the solutions that keep operations on track, even as new challenges come more...

1st CSP Today Concentrated Solar Thermal Power Summit India

Sep 7 2010 - Sep 8 2010 - New Delhi India

Deliver a profitable, productive and commercially successful large scale CSP business in India. Building on the success of past events in USA, Europe & MENA, CSP Today brings to New Delhi the most relevant international experience for the concentrated solar more...

Offshore Wind Energy in North America's Great Lakes Conference

Sep 9 2010 - Sep 10 2010 - Toronto

Two day conference that tackles the most important challenges. A blend of European knowledge from the companies who have been installing offshore wind turbines for the last decade alongside local state governing bodies and leading project developers. Permitting, securing long more...

Autovation 2010

Sep 12 2010 - Sep 15 2010 - Austin, TX - USA

Autovation 2010 is a not-to-miss educational forum that will attract utility executives from around the world looking for new ways to optimize their operations through automation technologies. more...

Global Sustainable Bioenergy North American Convention

Sep 14 2010 - Sep 16 2010 - Minneapolis, MN - USA

The North American convention provides a remarkable opportunity to play a part in guiding renewable energy policy for the 21st century. Attendees will create a resolution that, along with similar resolutions already drafted on four other continents, will help set more...

GridWise Global Forum

Sep 21 2010 - Sep 23 2010 - Washington, DC - USA

Hosted by the GridWise(R) Alliance and the U.S. Department of Energy, the GridWise Global Forum will convene thought leaders from the highest levels of government, business, NGOS, and academia from around the world to discuss the ultimate enabling potential of more...

1. Intro to Nat Gas Trading & Hedging 2. Option Applications in Energy

Sep 20 2010 - Sep 23 2010 - Houston, TX - USA

Introduction to Natural Gas Trading & Hedging - This program provides a comprehensive understanding of the structures that underlie Natural Gas trading. Beyond Essentials: Option Applications in Energy - This course provides a solid practical and conceptual (non-quantitative) understanding of more...

Electric Business Understanding Seminar

Sep 20 2010 - Sep 21 2010 - Houston, TX - USA

Electric Business Understanding provides a comprehensive overview of the electric industry. Position yourself for career advancement by gaining a solid understanding of how the electric business works including key physical, market, and regulatory aspects and how market participants navigate this more...

Electric Market Dynamics Seminar

Sep 22 2010 - Sep 23 2010 - Houston, TX - USA

Electric Market Dynamics offers participants an in-depth understanding of North American electric markets and how they function. Enhance your career by furthering your knowledge of market structures, pricing mechanisms, services offered in markets, and how various participants use the markets more...

Gas and Electric Business Understanding Seminar

Oct 5 2010 - Oct 6 2010 - Los Angeles, CA - USA

Gas and Electric Business Understanding provides a comprehensive overview of the natural gas and electric industries. Position yourself for career success by gaining a solid understanding of how each business works, including key physical, market and regulatory aspects, as well more...

Energy Central
Power Network




Future & Alternative Generation


We know you have something to say!
There is an immediate need for articles on the hot topics in the Power Industry! EnergyPulse, like no other publication, also provides a means for our readers to immediately interact with experts like you.
 
Contribute Today!
Please view our Author Guidelines and send submissions to the editor.

Click For More Articles on Future & Alternative Generation
 
The Business of Geothermal - A Competitive Resource
6.10.09   Lisa Cohn, Writer, Real Energy Writers

Article Viewed 4283 Times
2 Comments
E-mail Article Printer Friendly
 
  • Comment On Article
  • About The Author
  • More Articles By This Author

    For Michael Yackira, president and chief executive officer of Reno-based NV Energy, deciding whether to purchase geothermal energy to meet the state's renewable portfolio standard is a no-brainer.

    It's been commercially viable for a long period of time," Yackira said. "For us, it's always been the most competitive of the three forms of renewable energy." Geothermal power plants, which harvest heat from the earth, are especially attractive because they produce energy continuously, unlike wind and solar plants. Energy acquires geothermal energy at prices only slightly higher than the price of power from natural-gas-fired plants. NV geothermal prices aren't as volatile, he said.

    In about 1987, NV Energy recognized the benefit of taking advantage of Nevada's abundant geothermal resources and signed its first contract for geothermal power. In 1997, it implemented one of the first RPSs in the country. Now, the utility is focusing on geothermal power to meet an RPS requiring utilities to acquire 20 percent of energy from renewable resources by 2015.

    NV Energy last year signed a joint ownership agreement with Ormat Nevada, a subsidiary of Ormat Technologies, to co-develop the Carson Lake geothermal project near Fallon, NV, becoming the first utility in the country to co-develop a geothermal plant. The project will add up to 40 megawatts to the 300 megawatts that NV Energy now purchases. And the utility has proposed building a transmission line that will help move to populated areas the 1,500 to 2,000 megawatts of geothermal power expected to come online in the state in the next decade, Yackira said.

    With 58 projects under development, Nevada leads the nation in geothermal development at a time when the industry is experiencing strong growth, according to a report released March 4 by the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) based in Washington. Since August, the industry has seen a 25 percent increase in new projects, and overall production potential jumped by 35 percent, according to the report.

    State RPS requirements are helping drive the growth, said Karl Galwell, GEA's executive director. Nevada is the leader in part due to a strong RPS, he said.

    "The state has a good RPS. It's easy to understand and not overly complicated. Ii has helped create a market for geothermal energy," Gawell said. In addition, the industry is supported by the University of Nevada, Reno, which has received federal support to help identify regions with geothermal potential. What's more, the Bureau of Land Management in Nevada has a strong, supportive leasing program that in August yielded a record-breaking $28.2 million.

    "Couple those things with the federal tax incentives and you've got all the things you need," Gawell said.

    Like Nevada, California has abundant geothermal resources. However, harvesting those resources isn't easy in that state, Gawell said. California is flush with reserves that could yield commercially viable prices. Yet transmission roadblocks prevent their development, he said.

    About 30 percent of Pacific Gas & Electric's renewable resources are geothermal, according to spokeswoman Jennifer Zerwer.

    Geothermal's commercial viability varies from project to project. "The projects all have different costs of development depending on how deep they are. People develop the cheap and easy ones first," Gawell said. As the cost of fossil fuels increases, projects become more economically viable.

    Yackira said that it takes a long time to develop projects, but, for his utility, the benefits outweigh the challenges. "You have to find a site, drill to ensure you have a fuel source and develop the field. It takes five years, 20 to 30 megawatts at a time, but it's still very beneficial, "he said.

    Many utilities aren't ready to invest in geothermal energy. Portland General Electric in Portland, Ore., would like to bring geothermal plants online to meet its RPS, but they don't make financial sense, said spokesman Steve Corson.

    "In general terms, it's interesting as a potential baseload renewable resource. The challenge for us is it's very location-specific and there are transmission challenges that need to be addressed to get it to us. At this point, it hasn't been cost-effective for us," Corson said.

    In spite of the fact that some utilities are hesitating, many new geothermal companies are entering the industry. "It's exciting. A sign of a healthy industry is one with lots of new entrants," Gawell said.

    In fact, before the economy slowed, "money was falling out of the sky," said Lisa Shevenell, director of the Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy at the University of Nevada, Reno.

    "Up until recently, there were a lot of investors, new companies and people coming out of the woodwork. With the financial situation, it's unclear how it will develop in the future," Shevenell said. "It will be interesting to see how it goes forward. There's a lot of interest."

    Subscribe to EnergyBiz magazine today.
    EnergyBiz magazine is the thought-leading, award-winning publication of the emerging power industry. This article originally appeared in the May/June 2009 issue.

    For information on purchasing reprints of this article, contact Tim Tobeck ttobeck@energycentral.com.
    Copyright 2010 CyberTech, Inc.
     
    E-mail Article Printer Friendly
     
  • Click Here For More Articles on Future & Alternative Generation


  • Click Here For More Articles By Lisa Cohn
  • Do you agree or disagree with this article? Send in your own article.

     

    Readers Comments

    Date Comment
    Ferdinand E. Banks
    6.10.09
    What's the problem. Twenty years or so ago a student of mine from Iceland told me that the economy of that country was a little shaky, and I told him to tell his 'congressman' that if that country constructed a couple of bauxite smelting plants (for producing aluminum), Iceland could become one of the richest countries in the world (per capita). He didn't pay any attention to me of course, but it seems that they are thinking in those terms now. The problem is that they are not thinking fast and hard enough, which is why 'the miseries' have icrossed Iceland's threshold.

    Unfortunately the total supply of geothermal is so small that most countries do not have access to a big slice...I think.

    Jerry Toman
    6.16.09
    The way forward is clear...

    If Geothermal technology, which provides a *warm-temperature-source" were to *marry-up* with the Atmospheric Vortex Engine, which accesses a very "cold-temperature-sink", the combination would take off (economically) like a rocket ship, with the sky (literally) being the limit.

    Add your comments:
    Please log in to leave a comment!

    Top

        Home | Register | Subscribe | Contribute | Advertise | About Us | Feedback
       Copyright © 2002-2010, CyberTech, Inc. - All rights reserved. Read our Terms of Service.