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Enel Green Power brings Cove Fort plant in Utah online

Enel Green Power brings Cove Fort plant in Utah online Highway at Cove Fort historic site in Utah, U.S. (source: flickr/ CountyLemonade, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 27 Nov 2013

Enel Green Power has brought its new 25 MW Cove Fort plant online in Utah, U.S. The facility has a binary cycle plant installed and cost around $126 million.

Italian Enel Green Power announced today that it has completed the Cove Fort geothermal power plant, its first plant in the State of Utah (USA) and connected it to the grid.

“The installed capacity of the new binary cycle geothermal power plant in Cove Fort, Utah is 25 MW. The facility will be able to generate up to 160 GWh of power per year. The total investment for the plant was around $126 million.

Cove Fort is a medium-enthalpy geothermal plant, which uses innovative binary cycle technology. The facility is owned by Enel Cove Fort, LLC, a subsidiary of EGPNA Development Holdings, LLC.

The installed capacity of the Cove Fort geothermal plant amounts to 25 MW. The operating facility will be able to generate up to 160 GWh of power per year, therefore avoiding the emission of around 115,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.

Construction of the plant, in line with the growth targets set by Enel Green Power’s 2013-2017 Business Plan, required a total investment of approximately 126 million US dollars, financed through the Enel Green Power Group’s own sources.

The power plant is supported by a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for the energy produced by the facility. The agreement was signed with company Salt River Project. Over more, the project is expected to qualify for the Section 1603 Renewable Energy Treasury Grant Program, therefore accessing the fiscal incentives envisaged by said regulation.

In North America, Enel Green Power also owns the geothermal plants of Stillwater and Salt Wells, which are located near Fallon, Nevada. These plants also use the medium enthalpy, binary cycle technology, which is among the most advanced in the sector. Last year, a 26 MW photovoltaic facility was added to the Stillwater geothermal power plant, therefore creating the first hybrid plant in the world with these characteristics.

Enel Green Power is the Enel Group company (enel.com) fully dedicated to the development and management of renewable energy sources at the international level, with operations in Europe and the Americas. The company generated more than 25 billion kWh in 2012 from water, sun, wind and the Earth’s heat – enough to meet the energy needs of approx. 10 million households and avoid the emission of over 18 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Enel Green Power is a world leader in the sector thanks to its well-balanced generation mix, providing generation volumes well over the sector average. The company has an installed capacity of approximately 8,700 MW from a mix of sources including wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass. Currently, the company has approximately 740 plants operating in 16 countries in Europe and the Americas.

Enel Green Power in USA Enel Green Power (EGP) operates in North America through Enel Green Power North America, Inc. (EGP-NA), which owns and operates over 90 plants in 21 U.S. States and two Canadian provinces with an installed capacity of around 1.7 GW as of today. Such a capacity base is diversified across four generation technologies, namely wind, geothermal, solar photovoltaic and hydro.”

Source: Company release via Newswiretoday