A map of the known geothermal sites in Nevada will soon be available on the web.
The Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy, at the University of Nevada, Reno, recently received a $936,000 grant from the Department of Energy to help it locate and map the state's hot spots.
The center's goal is to foster an alternative energy industry that is good both for the environment and for the local economy.
"We're trying to promote development of clean geothermal resources for the environment and to diversify the economy," said Lisa Shevenell, assistant director of the three-year old center.
The center is working closely with the geothermal energy industry to share data and develop new techniques to locate sites that can be tapped.
At Desert Peak, near Fernley, for example, the center is working with Ormat Nevada Inc., which has a plant there, as well as the nearby Brady plant, to supply power to Sierra Pacific Power Co.
"Perfecting techniques will help reduce the risk," said Dan Schochet, vice president at Ormat in Sparks.
"That will encourage more companies to get involved."
More accurate technology can help companies save money, said Shevenell, by pinpointing the most viable spots before they start costly drilling.
"The more it's studied and mapped, the more we can show our lenders, which increases the likelihood we'll get funded," said Rebecca Wagner, director of regulatory and public affairs at Advanced Thermal Systems Inc.
in Reno.
"Before they invest $62 million to build a new plant they want to know and mapping is the critical first step."
Advanced Thermal has two plants, financed by GE Capital, in Steamboat Springs, where work is being done by the center.
The center is using several types of technology to locate sites, including satellite-based Global Positioning Systems and water chemistry analysis.
The center is now working on six projects that were chosen from 26 respondents to a request for proposals it issued in January 2002.
The projects, launched in April 2002, are at Desert Peak, Steamboat Springs and other sites, and include researchers from Desert Research Institute, U.S.
Geological Survey and Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology.
The center joins a long list of groups trying to promote alternative energy in the state.
Sen.
Harry Reid several years ago launched the GeoPowering the West program to promote geothermal energy.
It includes UNR's Mackay School of Mines, where the Great Basin center is located, as well as the DOE, Nevada Energy Office and others.
During the 2001 session, the Nevada Legislature passed a law requiring Sierra Pacific Power Co.
and Nevada Power Co., the power subsidiaries of Sierra Pacific Resources, to increase their use of renewable energy to 15 percent by 2013.
In November 2002, Sierra Pacific Resources announced it had signed contracts with six suppliers to provide 227 megawatts of electricity through a combination of wind and geothermal energy.
One megawatt serves up to 1,000 homes.
It's estimated that Nevada has the largest amount of untapped geothermal resources in the country - between 2,500 megawatts and 3,700 megawatts.
On a local level, Carson City is promoting renewable energy as a way to both stabilize the city's energy costs and to bring new industry and jobs to the area (see Jan.
13, 2003, pg.
1).
The Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy hopes to have its map of known geothermal sites in Nevada available on the UNR web site in the second quarter.
