Showing posts with label north wind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label north wind. Show all posts

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Nevada Geothermal


This item from a small geothermal company and is a handy reminder to check what is happening in the geothermal industry. The main player is a company called Ormat and it has projects around the world, likely as a technology supplier first. This company is owner of a stand alone facility based in Nevada and it supplies an excellent comparable for every other such project in Nevada. There are presently twenty or so listed, that I could find.


It needs to be noted that this plant was built out in a year. Thus we can expect rapid expansion when the power delivery system is able to absorb the expanding supply. The only constraint will be manpower at that point. Capital loves these plants, and the whole State of Nevada is prospective.


Besides, these plants are using present best art, but going deeper, while accelerating costs also accelerate returns. Thus improvement in art promises a huge increase in output. These early plants would have been built on a very conservative basis.


Nevada is the one State that is almost totally underlain by hot rocks and there are only isolated locales elsewhere. Thus it makes eminent sense to concentrate this form of energy production here. Tied into a national grid, the peak output can pass from six in the morning eastern time to six into the evening Pacific time, for a peak span of sixteen hours. If peak auto recharge is then covering the eight hour gap, we get a rather efficient system


Both geothermal and wind are zero fuel, capital based energy sources that can be built out and commissioned inside of twelve months. Wind long ago hit critical mass, and this tells me that geothermal has also achieved critical mass. That means that if I show up with a site and a fistful of dollars, someone will hand me the keys in twelve months.


Nevada can have hundreds, if not thousands of plants built, so it is well on the way to been the real energy state.


Nevada Geothermal Power Inc. Completes Construction of Geothermal Power Plant at Blue Mountain


VANCOUVER, B.C. (August 18, 2009) - Nevada Geothermal Power Inc. (NGP) (TSX-V: NGP, OTC-BB: NGLPF) today announced that construction is completed on the 49.5 megawatt (gross) Blue Mountain 'Faulkner 1' geothermal power plant. Mechanical, electrical and metering systems are installed for three Energy Convertors and the cooling tower, control building, fire protection, safety systems and site grading are ready for operation.Independently, NGP has completed a 21-mile power line interconnection to the Sierra Pacific Power Company (SPPC) power grid, the production and injection well field, local power distribution system, and microwave communication system. The power line interconnection was energized on August 3rd, 2009 such that power from SPPC can now be back-fed to test numerous power plant electrical components, cooling tower fan motors and production well pumps. The first of several ground water wells has been commissioned and the water supply pipeline and cooling tower is operational.Plant commissioning of the 'Faulkner 1' geothermal plant has commenced and is expected to be completed by the end of September 2009.In early October the plant will be operational with approximately 28-30 MW (net) of firm output capacity. After start up two widely-spaced make-up wells are planned, replacing two existing shallow injectors, to allow sustainable plant output to be increased to 40 MW (net). In 2010, the NGP will commence further investigations aimed at confirming the further build out potential within the 17 square mile lease area. "NGP has achieved an enormous milestone with the completion of the construction of the 49.5 MW Blue Mountain 'Faulkner 1' power plant. Our experienced management team, industry relationships, planned additional development projects and future new acquisitions will enable NGP to embark on an exciting program of scalable growth," stated
Brian Fairbank, President & CEO. About Nevada Geothermal Power Inc.:

Nevada Geothermal Power Inc. is an emerging renewable energy developer focused on producing clean, efficient and sustainable geothermal electric power from high temperature geothermal resources in the United States. NGP currently owns a 100% leasehold interest in four properties: Blue Mountain, Pumpernickel, and Black Warrior (all of which are ideally situated in Nevada), and Crump Geyser in Oregon. These properties, which are at different levels of exploration and development, are estimated to have the potential for the generation of over 200 MW.NGP's phase 1 development at Blue Mountain; 'Faulkner 1' nameplate 49.5 MW gross power project is targeted to be Turning on the Power in October 2009. Nevada Geothermal Power Inc. Brian D. Fairbank, P. Eng.President & CEO

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Little Ice Age ending, Boreal Wind returns

Now that I am not the only voice saying that the perennial sea ice will disappear between five and seven years from now, I don't mind adding a couple more comments.

My first comment is to remind everyone that this effect that we are witnessing is easily explained by a constant surplus influx of warmth into the Arctic. In other words, the excess is likely the same for the past thirty years. It is just that its effect, now that perhaps 80 to 90 percent of the original perennial sea ice is gone, is now more visible and dramatic. We are now in the late collapse stage of this Arctic warming cycle.

My second comment is that this excess warmth will have a large effect on the northern climes once this perennial ice is removed. It will be reflected in a restoration of conditions of the Bronze Age and the warm Medieval period. This means a two degree jump in average temperatures for Scandinavia and the restoration of viticulture in Southern England. To say nothing of good pasture land in Greenland.

I also expect that the already changing boreal winds as reported recently by NASA will strongly reemerge and be restored to their medieval fame in legend and literature. Such winds will hit full stride in mid summer and be as predictable as the trade winds. They will obviously first clear out the winter ice before blowing strongly into Northern Europe.

My last comment is that no additional warmth from anywhere is needed at all. The century by century recovery from the Little Ice Age is progressing at much the same rate as always. And the advent of the first signs of the boreal winds these past two years can be properly used to demarcate the true end of the Little Ice Age. We are now transitioning into the a normal northern climate regime as experienced for centuries at a time in the past.

I am therefore proclaiming that the transition period 2006 - 2015 is now ending the Little Ice Age. I suppose we can call the next several hundred years the 'Ice Free Age"