The U.S. Department of Energy finalized a $96.8 million loan guarantee to a project sponsored by U.S. Geothermal, Inc. (AMEX: HTM) to construct a 23-megawatt (MW) geothermal power project in Malheur County, in southeastern Oregon.
The company estimates the project, known as Neal Hot Springs, will create approximately 150 construction jobs, over a dozen permanent clean energy jobs and many more supply chain jobs across several states, including Texas, California and Ohio.
The project uses an improved technology to extract energy from rock and fluids in the Earth’s crust more efficiently. The technology, referred to as a supercritical binary geothermal cycle, is estimated to be more efficient than traditional geothermal binary systems, allowing lower-temperature geothermal resources to be used for power generation.
The company anticipates about 95% of the power plant’s infrastructure and parts will be supplied by U.S.-based manufacturers. In addition, the project’s total output will be sold to Idaho Power Company under a long-term power purchase agreement.
The Department of Energy, through the Loan Programs Office, has issued loan guarantees or offered conditional commitments for loan guarantees totaling nearly $18 billion to support 19 clean energy projects.
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