Western GeoPower Corp., a renewable energy company focused on geothermal energy development, announced its intention to build a 25.5 megawatt power plant at The Geysers Geothermal Field located 75 miles north of San Francisco.
The plant is projected to commence operations in late 2009 and will be called Western GeoPower Unit 1. It will supply about 200,000 MW of baseload electricity to the California market.
Total development costs, including power plant, gathering system, transmission system, administrative and finance charges, have been estimated at US$90 million. Western GeoPower has launched efforts to secure funding for the entire field and plant development.
On September 26, 2006, California adopted a new Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) that requires regulated utilities to produce at least 20% of their electricity supply from renewable energy by 2010, advancing the goal from 2017. Western GeoPower has submitted power sales bids in response to Requests For Proposals issued by several California utilities that are expected to conclude Power Purchase Agreements early in 2007.
A feasibility study prepared by independent consultant, GeothermEx, Inc. of Richmond, California projects that the Unit 15 leasehold will commercially support a 25.5 megawatt (net) power plant for a minimum of 20 years, with generation continuing at a slightly reduced output factor through 30 years.
California-based GeothermEx is a recognized international authority in the evaluation of geothermal resources and has been involved in the development of all the producing geothermal fields in the United States and over 750 projects worldwide. Their knowledge of The Geysers Geothermal Field is extensive, having been associated with the development of the field for over 30 years.
The Geysers is one of only five operating geothermal fields in the world that produce “dry” steam, a feature that reduces both capital and operating costs of power generation. Commercial geothermal power has been generated continuously since 1960, with the present generation level being about 900 megawatts, making The Geysers the largest producer of geothermal electricity in the world. The Unit 15 leasehold is situated in the southwestern region of The Geysers in Sonoma County and much of the leasehold lies within the presently known boundary of The Geysers Geothermal Field. A commercial power plant of 62 megawatt (gross) capacity, known as PG&E Unit 15, operated at the leasehold during 1979-1989.
It is now recognized that the Unit 15 plant was oversized for the available resource. For this reason, the wells supplying the plant experienced a rapid decline in productivity, similar to the decline experienced throughout The Geysers at that time. The plant was shut down in 1989 and eventually dismantled, and the wells were plugged and abandoned.
Since the mid-1990s, the rate of decline in well productivity at The Geysers has eased substantially, and reservoir pressure has stabilized. In large part, this is due to increased injection into the reservoir. Reservoir pressure under the Unit 15 leasehold has substantially recovered since the wells stopped production.
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