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Small geothermal power generation unit installed at hot spring in California

Small geothermal power generation unit installed at hot spring in California Surprise Valley, California (source: flickr/ BLM California, public domain)
Alexander Richter 1 May 2018

A small power generation unit by U.S.-based PwrCor, Inc. has been successfully installed at Surprise Valley Hot Springs in Modoc County, California utilising low-heat geothermal resource for electricity generation.

Technology firm PwrCor, Inc. announces the launch of a new heat conversion unit at the Surprise Valley Hot Springs in Modoc County, California.

PwrCor, Inc. is a company focused on renewable enegy solutions for the Waste-Heat-to-Power, Geothermal, and Solar Thermal markets.

The engine is the first of its kind using the Company’s proprietary technology, designed and constructed by PwrCor’s team and the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, TX, and funded by the California Energy Commission and project participants.  The state-of-the-art engine had successfully passed a rigorous testing regimen prior to being shipped to California. The Surprise Valley geothermal installation is a prime example of executing the Company’s strategy to apply its exclusive PwrCorTMtechnology to strategic markets. In this instance, the engine operates using the ultra-low-grade heat from a geothermal hot spring and converts that heat to clean, “green” electrical power.

PwrCor’s technology delivers the ability to reduce the overall cost of energy for power users.  For the first time, ultra-low-grade heat, which up until now could only be discarded and wasted, can be cost-effectively utilized to generate electrical power, providing cost savings and improving bottom line performance – something that could never have been accomplished before.

California has vast amounts of ultra-low-grade geothermal heat that previously could not be economically utilized for the generation of electricity.  PwrCor’s technology has changed that, permitting the use of these resources for uninterrupted base-load power production.  The Modoc County Record titled this recent article covering the installation, “Historic Day for Geothermal Energy Power in State”.

As noted in the article, the PwrCor installation made Modoc the sixth county in California to generate power from geothermal sources, but it was the first time ultra-low temperature (less than 200°F/ 93 °C) geothermal water was used in this fashion.  Onlookers described the sound of the engine operating as a “low hum”.

PwrCor is currently engaged in discussions with leading companies in such industries as fuel cells and reciprocating engines, and on additional project initiatives in oil and gas, solar thermal, and data centers, all of which have enormous amounts of wasted ultra-low-grade heat that can now be converted to additional power, contributing to higher profits.  The technology cost-effectively converts ultra-low-grade heat to mechanical power or electricity, and represents a breakthrough for those businesses which can profit from converting wasted heat into electrical power.

As Tom Telegades, CEO of PwrCor, stated, “We are excited that PwrCor’s proprietary new state-of-the-art technology promises to change the energy profile of entire industries.”

Source: Company release via Globe Newswire