A competitive auction of lease parcels for geothermal energy resources on federal public lands in Nevada held on August 5 was the largest geothermal sale ever in terms of dollars bid, bringing in a record $28.2 million for a total of 105,211 acres.
50% of revenues from the lease sale–including bonus bids, rentals, and royalties collected on the leases–will be distributed to the state, and 25% will be distributed to the counties where the leases are located. The remaining 25% is distributed to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to be used for the processing of geothermal leases and geothermal use authorizations.
"The public lands system managed by the Bureau of land Management holds the largest supply of geothermal energy in this country and already supplies half of the nation’s geothermal energy," said Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. "The geothermal sale this week in Nevada opens the way for even more geothermal development and is just one step in our continuing effort to responsibly use and develop clean, renewable energy."
Geothermal resources, such as steam and hot water, are used directly to heat buildings and in greenhouses and aquaculture, and indirectly to generate electric power. Geothermal energy accounts for 17% of the electricity generated from renewable sources in the U.S. Half of the nation’s geothermal energy production occurs on federal land, much of it in California and Nevada, and 90% of the potential resources are located on public lands as well. Other states with geothermal activity include Oregon, Utah, Idaho and New Mexico.
All 35 parcels offered in the August 6 sale were sold. The high bonus bid per-acre was for a 2,707-acre parcel in Churchill County at $1,000 per acre by ENEL Geothermal LLC. The highest bid paid for a parcel was $3,204,000 by Standard Steam Trust, LLC, for 3,560 acres. Three parcels in Churchill County, consolidated and offered as a block, sold for $585 per acre, bringing in $6,934,005 from Magma Energy US Corp.
This was the first auction held under revised rules published in May 2008 to make the process competitive. Previously the BLM had issued a total of 117 noncompetitive geothermal leases totaling 181,340 acres in Nevada since August 2005. Noncompetitive leases are charged a nominal first-year rental of $1 per acre.
Since 2001, the Bureau of Land Management has issued 380 geothermal leases, compared to 25 leases in the preceding 4 years, and currently has about 1,275 megawatts (MW) of geothermal energy installed on the public lands system.
Geothermal Survey
In related news, a survey released by the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) shows continued growth in the number of new geothermal power projects under development in the United States, a 20% increase since January of this year.
The report identified 103 projects underway in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. When developed, these projects could provide nearly 4,000 MW of new electric power, enough electricity to meet the needs of roughly 4 million homes.
"These new projects will result in the infusion of roughly $15 billion in capital investment in the western states and will create 7,000 permanent geothermal jobs and more than 25,000 person-years of construction and manufacturing employment," says Karl Gawell, Executive Director of the Geothermal Energy Association.
"The surge in new geothermal power development continues," said Karl Gawell, GEA’s Executive Director.
Current geothermal capacity on-line is 2,957 MW according to the report, and with the new additions geothermal power could reach nearly 7,000 MW.
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