Alaska has more geothermal resources than any other state in the country, and the first geothermal power plant in the state has come on-line at Chena Hot Springs, just outside Fairbanks. On August 4, Chena Hot Springs/Chena Power and United Technologies jointly announced the successful commissioning and startup of the plant.
“This project represents a major milestone in the utilization of low temperature geothermal resources,” commented Gwen Holdmann, VP for New Development of the Chena Hot Springs Resort. Chena Hot Springs it is now also the site of the lowest temperature resource (165F) ever used for commercial power generation in the world, noted Bernie Karl, Proprietor of the resort.
An official ribbon-cutting ceremony and dedication of the 200 kW geothermal power plant is scheduled for August 20th, with Alaska Senator Ted Stevens and Governor Frank Murkowski scheduled to be among those participating. The dedication will be the highlight of the 1st Annual Chena Renewable Energy Fair which offers free to the public workshops, site and project tours, and vendors displays representing the range of renewable energy technologies.
Chena is the first geothermal distributed generation project, allowing the resort to meet its power needs without relying on a utility grid, and is expected to open the door for similar projects at spas, greenhouses and other geothermal sites around the world. Chena will be the first of many such applications in Alaska and other states, noted Karl Gawell of the Geothermal Energy Association. As technology advances to allow lower temperature generation, it will dramatically expand the potential for new geothermal power development.
Regarding the potential for the new technology, Bernie Karl recently testified to the Senate Energy Committee that if every producing oil and gas well in Texas alone used this technology, the same power generation technology being tested right now at Chena Hot Springs in Alaska, we could generate 5,000MW of power from this renewable geothermal resource.
The Chena Hot Springs geothermal power plant is currently operating as the base load for the site, and United Technologies representatives are on hand completing performance tests by varying the hot and cold water flow rates. The Chena power plant is running off 162.5 F hot water from a 700 foot deep well. The cooling water source is from a cold water well at a higher elevation than the power plant, and is delivered via siphon (gravity feed). This means no pump is needed to move the cold water through the power plant, reducing the parasitic load on the plant.
For more information on the Fair or the power plant, visit Chena’s project website:
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