AltaRock Energy Inc. has finalized agreements with Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY) and the Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation allowing it to explore the potential for developing geothermal projects in California, Oregon and Washington.
The geothermal rights, totaling nearly 667,000 acres, include approximately 25,400 acres in Northern California, 378,500 acres in south-central and western Oregon, and 263,000 acres in western Washington. AltaRock will be granted an exclusive option by Weyerhaeuser to assess the geothermal potential and can convert up to 40% of the acreage rights to geothermal development leases within two years.
AltaRock CEO Don O’Shei said, "These geothermal rights will provide us with a pipeline of development projects to showcase our innovative technology, and generate geothermal jobs and clean, renewable energy."
Weyerhaeuser said the agreements support its strategy of finding innovative ways to release the full potential of its land holdings.
AltaRock is one of two enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) companies that recently received funding from Google.org, the philantropic arm of Google.com (Nasdaq: GOOG.)
Emerging EGS technology has the potential to facilitate geothermal development in areas across the country that do not have conventional geothermal resources. EGS also has the potential to reduce the "dry hole" risk associated with conventional hydrothermal development, which requires locating existing fractures containing high flows of hot water.
EGS projects produce electricity using heat extracted with engineered fluid flow paths in hot rock. In the first portion of the EGS power generation cycle, a fractured reservoir is created at a depth where the rock is hot. Water is continuously injected down a well into the engineered fractures that then heat up the water as it flows through. The water is then brought to the surface via production wells, and its heat is extracted to generate electricity in power plants. Finally, the water, depleted of its heat, is re-injected to be heated again.
About AltaRock Energy Inc.
AltaRock Energy is a renewable energy development company focused on the research and development of Engineered Geothermal Systems. The company has its corporate headquarters in Sausalito, Calif., and its technology development office in Seattle, Wash.
Loading...