Redfield called key to geothermal future

When college officials said last week that the new Redfield Campus at the south of edge of Reno will be heated, cooled and powered entirely by geothermal sources,much of the attention focused on cost savings.

But while the savings aren't anything to sneeze at $60,000 a year in electricity alone the larger implication is likely to be the key role the campus plays in developing the geothermal industry in the state.

Officials said last week they've struck a deal with Ormat Nevada to use nearby geothermal sources to provide utilities for the campus near Mount Rose Highway and U.S.

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The campus is a joint venture of the University of Nevada, Reno and Truckee Meadows Community College.

That may not sound like news, because a similar deal was announced a couple of years ago with Advanced Thermal Systems, a Reno company that had interests in the geothermal field near the campus.

But when Advanced Thermal was unable to bring the geothermal deal to reality, campus officials retreated to plans for conventional links to the utility grid.

Talks with Ormat Nevada brought the geothermal plans back to life.

Research and classes conducted on the campus are likely to be important building blocks in development of a geothermal industry in Nevada.

"This is where research ideas come from.

This is where young people come into the industry," said Lucien Bronicki, chairman of the board of Ormat, the Israeli company that's the parent of Sparks-based Ormat Nevada.

And Dan Schochet, a vice president of Ormat, said the company is particularly heartened by the chance to work with schools in northern Nevada to begin training the workforce professional as well as technical that it needs to bring more geothermal facilities on line.

Technically trained operators of geothermal plants, Schochet said, are earning about $40,000 a year good-paying jobs in rural Nevada counties where much geothermal development is taking place.

UNR as well as the Desert Research Institute will be conducting research in uses of renewable energy at the campus.Allen Gates, chair of the UNR mechanical engineering department, said eight to 10 faculty members and 20-30 graduate students are likely to be engaged in research at the UNR Renewable Energy Center.

"We will have a vigorous research program in place,"Gates said."The university has a huge role to play in developing geothermal energy in Nevada." DRI researchers, meanwhile,will use the facilities of the Redfield campus to study the uses of heat and electricity from geothermal sources to produce hydrogen to power vehicles.

The Regional Transportation Commission, which operates a fleet of buses in the region, is partnering in that research.

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Sen.Harry Reid secured just a bit over $1 million a year to pay for the center.