State of Alaska seeks land nomination for potential geothermal lease sale
Tidal channels on Augustine Island, Cook Inlet, Alaska (source: flickr/ NOAA Photo Library, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
20 Aug 2018
Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas is seeking nominations of state-owned lands with geothermal resources for a potential future lease sale. Nominations will be accepted through November 9, 2018.
In a release last week, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas announced that it is seeking nominations of state-owned lands with geothermal resources for a potential future lease sale. Nominations will be accepted through November 9, 2018.
Further details regarding the nomination process are available at http://dog.dnr.alaska.gov/services/explorationlicensing.
Alaska is located along the most active tectonic and volcanic region in the world, but so far, its geothermal resource potential is largely untapped. One promising development is the electricity and heat-generating geothermal power plant at the Chena Hot Springs Resort in Fairbanks, which opened in 2006 and has a generating capacity of 400 kW.
The first systematic description of potential geothermal resources in Alaska was published in 1917 and included a listing of 75 hot springs. Additional research was conducted in the 1970s and 1980s, including a three-year statewide assessment of geothermal resources published in 1983. Investigations since the 1980s have shown nearly every region of Alaska has at least some geothermal resource potential.
A 2012 report published by the Division of Geologic and Geophysical Surveys titled, Fossil Fuel and Geothermal Energy Sources for Local Use in Alaska, indicated that geothermal potential was most promising in the Aleutian Islands and Southeast Alaska.
The most recently exploration occurred at Mount Spurr from 2010 to 2016. All state-owned, unencumbered lands south of the Umiat Baseline are potentially available for geothermal resource exploration.
Based on the outcome of the solicitation, the division will decide whether to issue a best interest finding that makes certain lands available for exploration, and subsequently issue permits or leases for geothermal exploration.
CONTACT: TJ Presley, 907-269-8786, thomas.presley@alaska.gov
Source: Division of Oil and Gas of the State of Alaska via Peninsula Clarion
