ElectraTherm Heat-Recovery Devices To Be Installed at Nevada Mine

ElectraTherm, Inc. announced the planned deployment of two 50 kilowatts (kW) ElectraTherm Green Machines slated to generate electric power from geothermal heat at the Florida Canyon Mine in Northern Nevada.

Scheduled for commissioning in September, the project is the first commercial geothermal application of ElectraTherm’s Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology powered by its patented Twin Screw Expander.

Florida Canyon Mining, Inc. learned of ElectraTherm’s technology while looking to exploit the geothermal water used in their processes. The ElectraTherm Green Machines will take advantage of existing 220°F groundwater at Florida Canyon to create fuel-free, clean electrical power while cooling that geothermal water for further use in mining operations.

"We are proud to have a solution that makes green power from our geothermal energy that has, until now, been lost as waste heat," said Joel Murphy, Vice President of Operations and General Manager at Florida Canyon Mines. "That green power is nearly free because we already pump the water for our mining operations."

ElectraTherm says its heat-to-power technology can dramatically improves energy efficiency at geothermal sites by exploiting the hot water found in mines, as well as at tens of thousands of capped oil wells and other small geothermal resources.

"We are fielding interest from geothermal sites around the world who want to take advantage of ElectraTherm’s new technology to create power from untapped heat," said Rob Emrich, ElectraTherm Vice President of Sales.  "Compared to other forms of renewable energy technology, ElectraTherm offers one of the fastest payback periods in the industry, with long-term costs of under a penny per kilowatt hour  Our five foot by five foot system can access small and remote geothermal resources, which opens up a large market for creating electricity from geothermal heat."

ElectraTherm announced in June that its Texas partner, Gulf Coast Green Energy, would employ Green Machines to make clean electricity at two projects funded by the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America.  The first of those projects will make power from heat captured in geothermal brine, a common byproduct found in capped oil wells.

In July, Electratherm senior vice President Bill Olson spoke with SB.com news editor Bart King on the Green Week in Review podcast.