US Geothermal plans June start for its Neal Hot Springs plant
Malheur Butte, Ontario County, Oregon (source: flickr/ El Frito, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
7 Mar 2012
Geothermal development company U.S. Geothermal expects to start operation at its 23 MW Neal Hot Springs geothermal power plant in Southern Oregon.
In an update last month U.S. Geothermal announced some technical hiccup on the comission of its San Emidio geothermal power plant project, but is now confident the plant will start operations in June this year.
The project is to be the first geothermal power plant producing power on industrial scale. The plant is a 23 MW plant with an estimated cost of $130 million. The power will be sold to Idaho Power co.
The project has been partly financed by a $30 million federal stimulus grant. So while the company currently runsin the reds, it expects to pull in about $18 million in revenue for this year from Idaho Power. By the time the company “expects to be cash-flow-positive”, so its CEO Doug Glaspey.
Source: AP via Registered Guard
