GEA’s Geothermal Energy Workshop – July 22, 2010 in Las Vegas

Old postcard of the Las Vegas strip (source: flickr/ Roadsidepictures, creative commons)

Alexander Richter 22 Jun 2010

At its Geothermal Energy Workshop on July 22, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) will explore the future of utility-scale geothermal power.

With geothermal production expanding to 15 states, many new utilities, coops and public utility districts are considering geothermal for the first time. This session brings together utilities, coops, and PUDs familiar with geothermal to discuss how they have achieved success with geothermal developers and companies. Sessions will focus on approaches and challenges for utility-scale projects in the U.S., federal and state support for utilities and renewables, risk management, transmission issues, and more.

“The growth of the geothermal industry in Nevada has been a sparkling example of how developers can harness this resource at a large scale and make it an extremely attractive option for utilities,” said GEA Executive Director Karl Gawell. “As the only baseload source of renewable power, geothermal is the perfect option for utilities interested in green power.”

With the abundant geothermal resource that Nevada boasts, the state has the opportunity to build an even more extensive geothermal power portfolio. Strong state and national renewable electricity standards continue to push forward these developments and Nevada could, with forward-thinking leadership, be the first in the nation powered 100% by renewable energy.

“Eleven of the projects under development in Nevada were ARRA funded. With incentives like those, as well as extending the geothermal tax-grants and efforts to ensure transmission networks and policies support new geothermal development, we can keep pushing this state and this nation to build the green economy we need,” said Gawell.

Update on Geothermal Power Production and Development, Nevada is already a leader in geothermal power production with 86 geothermal projects in development that together represent a potential of up to 3,686.4 MW.”

Source: release via Renewable Energy World, Event Website