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U.S. Geothermal receives grant for work on geothermal project in Guatemala

U.S. Geothermal receives grant for work on geothermal project in Guatemala El Ceibillo project site, Guatemala (source: U.S. Geothermal Inc.)
Alexander Richter 27 Sep 2017

Geothermal developer U.S. Geothermal Inc. reports having received a $825,319 grant from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency for its El Ceibillo geothermal project in Guatemala.

In a release today, U.S. Geothermal Inc. provides an update on the Raft River geothermal project in Idaho/ U.S. and the El Ceibillo geothermla project in Guatemala.

U.S. Geothermal Guatemala S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Geothermal, Inc., has been awarded a $825,319 grant from the U. S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA, https://www.ustda.gov/).  The grant provides funding for a feasibility study on the El Ceibillo Geothermal Power Plant Project, which will be led by POWER Engineers, Incorporated, headquartered in Hailey, Idaho.  The scope of the study is to update the resource evaluation, power plant design, financial analysis, environmental and regulatory review, and EPC technical specifications and bid package evaluations, in order to advance the Project to a construction-ready state.  We expect this study to begin within the next two months, with scheduled completion by the end of 2018.

Expenditures at El Ceibillo are being carefully controlled until we see evidence that the energy market is advancing in Guatemala.  The Guatemalan Government announced earlier this year that a Request For Proposals (RFP) for 420 megawatts of energy, which included 40 megawatts for geothermal, was going to be issued in 2017.  There is still no indication of when that RFP may be issued.

“We are pleased to report our progress on increasing generation at Raft River and in moving the El Ceibillo development project forward,” said Douglas Glaspey, Interim Chief Executive Officer. “Through the combination of increased generation from our current operations and planned new power plant construction, we remain focused on our goal of growing the company and enhancing shareholder value.”

Source: company release by email