Kaishan signs purchase and lease agreement for Bottle Rock geothermal plant, California
Bottle Rock Power geothermal power plant at Cobb Mountain, California (source: Bottle Rock Power)
Carlo Cariaga
17 Oct 2022
Kaishan Group, thru subsidiary Mayacma Geothermal, will be assuming the operations and development of the idle Bottle Rock geothermal power plant in the Geysers, California.
China’s Kaishan Group Co. Ltd (Kaishan), thru subsidiaries Open Mountain Energy, LLC and Mayacma Geothermal (Mayacma), LLC will be assuming responsibilities related to the Bottle Rock geothermal power plant in the Geysers, California. This comes after signing a Purchase Agreement and a Lease Agreement with Bottle Rock Power, LLC.
With the agreement, Mayacma acquires the conventional geothermal well sites in the project area and leases the seller’s geothermal assets and facilities. Mayacma will also be paying royalties based on future power generation.
The Bottle Rock geothermal power plant is located in Lake County, California and is within the Geothermal Resource Area known as The Geysers. It was originally constructed as a 55-MW dry steam geothermal power plant. In 2015, Bottle Rock Power was acquired by Baseload Clean Energy Partners (BCEP), a clean energy portfolio owned and operated by AltaRock Energy.
Due to the lack of recharge to the resource area, there have been operational challenges encountered in the Bottle Rock geothermal power plant. These culminated in the plant being shut down in April 2015 and put in standby mode. The plant has not operated since then.
With a new operator at the helm, there are now new plans for the redevelopment of the project. These involve the installation of a new steam-ORC power plant and the replacement of the cooling towers to allow for 100% reinjection of steam condensate to the reservoir – a strategy that aims for the long-term sustainability of the resource. Evaluation of historical data on the power plant and resource indicates that the new power plant can support approximately 7.5 MW of capacity from the existing wellfield.
Mayacma has developed a detailed project schedule with a target COD of December 2023. The company is also in the advanced stages of negotiating for a long-term PPA with a potential partner. Mayacma also anticipates that the new investment will be eligible for the Investment Tax Credit.
The Bottle Rock geothermal power plant will be Kaishan’s first geothermal project in California and the fourth overall in the U.S. They have previously acquired the geothermal projects in Fish Lake, White Grass, and Star Peak, all of which are in Nevada.
Source: Kaishan Group
