US Geothermal increases plant output at San Emidio
San Emidio power plant in Nevada, U.S. (Source: U.S. Geothermal)
Alexander Richter
14 Nov 2012
U.S. Geothermal reports it has increased the power output at its San Emidio project near Reno, Nevada in the U.S.
U.S. Geothermal Inc. – in its update today on its 100% owned San Emidio Project near Reno, Nevada – reports that “the new power plant output rating has now been increased from 8.6 to 9.0 net annual average megawatts based upon results of final capacity testing.
Since achieving commercial operation in May 2012, the plant has been producing and the project has been selling electrical power. Since then, several scheduled outages have occurred to allow the engineering, procurement and construction contractor time to work on a punch list of items required for final completion under the fixed price EPC agreement. The EPC contract includes financial guarantees by the contractor tied to the original construction price and completion date of the plant.
The plant is now operating smoothly and has averaged an output of 9.47 net (12.47 gross) megawatts per hour during November month-to-date. Including the completion of performance testing, the plant has been operating continuously for the past 31 days. The company”s wholly-owned subsidiary, USG Nevada LLC, accepted operational custody of the plant on November 10th. The EPC contractor is nearing final EPC contract completion.
Mr. Daniel Kunz, Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Geothermal Inc., said, “Our management team has taken care, custody and control of the San Emidio geothermal power plant as we work to close out the EPC contract. The plant is exceeding our initial expectations for electrical output and demonstrates a substantial increase in efficiency, compared to the older plant we replaced, in utilization of the proven reservoir and existing well field.”
A construction loan provided by the EPC contractor will be repaid with a 25-year project loan provided by a premier financial services company. The project loan is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2012 and will provide low cost, long term financing.
Electrical energy from the new power plant is being sold for $89.75 per megawatt hour (“MWH”), subject to a 1% annual escalator, under the terms of a 25-year power purchase agreement with Sierra Pacific Power Company. Using the existing production and injection wells, the new San Emidio plant is projected to generate an average of approximately 75,000 MWHs of electrical power each year and replaces an existing facility that, prior to being removed from service, generated approximately 23,000 MWHs annually for some 20 years.”
Source: Company release via Yahoo
