64 of 66 parcels sold in BLM Nevada geothermal lease sale
Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, U.S. (source: flickr/ notthisorthat, creative commons)
Carlo Cariaga
10 Oct 2024
Winning offers were made for 64 out 66 parcels offered during a recent geothermal lease sale held by the Bureau of Land Management Nevada Office.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Nevada State Office has announced that that 64 parcels covering 217,866.15 acres have been sold out of a total of 66 parcels covering 219,130.24 acres that was offered at a recently concluded competitive geothermal lease sale. A total amount of USD 7.86 million of bids were made during this round.
The offered parcels are located across Churchill, Elko, Esmeralda, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Lyon, Mineral, Nye, Pershing, Washoe, and White Pine counties.
The companies that made winning bids, as well as the corresponding number of parcels won, are summarized below:
- Buffalo River Minerals LLC – 28 parcels
- IVENERGY Energy Transition LLC – 17 parcels
- Ormat Nevada Inc. – 7 parcels
- Zanskar Geothermal & Minerals LLC – 7 parcels
- Norte Geothermal LLC – 2 parcels
- TLS Geothermics Corp – 1 parcel
- Keith Thomas Elliott – 1 parcel
- FLHN 1 LLC – 1 parcel
Other companies that participated in the auction are G2 Land Services Inc., Ignis H2 Energy Inc., 400C Energy Inc., Rodatherm Energy Corp., Whittemer Group, K3 LLC, and Raser Power Systems LLC.
More information on the geothermal lease sale can be found on the BLM Nevada website.
“Geothermal leases are one component of the dynamic energy portfolio in Nevada,” said Justin Abernathy, BLM Nevada Deputy State Director for Energy and Minerals. “These parcels were carefully analyzed through the NEPA process, and this successful sale takes the nation another step closer to achieving a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035.”
Geothermal energy is an abundant resource particularly in the West of the United States, where the BLM has authority to manage geothermal leasing on approximately 245 million acres of public lands, including 104 million acres of U.S. Forest Service lands.
As of September 2024, the Biden-Harris administration has approved 41 renewable energy projects on public lands (10 solar, 13 geothermal, and 18 gen-ties) and exceeded the goal to permit 25 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2025. In total, the BLM has permitted clean energy projects on public lands with a total capacity of approximately 29 gigawatts of power – enough to power more than 12 million homes.
Source: Bureau of Land Management
