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The U.S. Navy is smart to tap its geothermal resources in partnership with Sparks-based Ormat Technologies.
The benefits are many for the Navy, Churchill County and Nevada, not the least of which is power generated from a completely non-polluting source. Once completed in an estimated three to four years, the 30-megawatt power plant will supply electricity to the grid in Northern Nevada through a longterm contract with Sierra Pacific Power Company. The Navy gets a cut of the power sales - 5 percent for the first 20 years of the plant's operation and then 15 percent of gross power sales.
Ormat has a proven history of bringing geothermal power projects on line. Currently, Ormat generates 75 megawatts of electricity in Nevada. The company is an innovator in the technology it uses, which allows it to generate power from lower water temperatures. Ormat also is thinking about expanding beyond NAS Fallon and has approached the Bureau of Land Management about an adjacent 6,000 acres that may have geothermal potential.
The tax revenue from a new 30-megawatt facility will certainly benefit the county and come from a couple of different sources. Construction of the power plant will bring tax dollars for supplies and equipment, the employees who run the power plant will live here and pay taxes, and it is an asset to put on the property tax rolls.
Some credit for the interest in developing geothermal power in the county goes to state lawmakers. The Nevada Legislature, in a progressive move other states should follow, passed legislation that requires Nevada utilities to get 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2013. Federal lawmakers have also extended tax breaks to spur power development from renewable resources.
In the past it's been an expensive proposition to build the poles and wire infrastructure to transmit power from remote areas where the hot water is located. Anyone who knows the gold business also understands the significant capital expenditure it takes to drill and develop the resource. With the state mandate for green energy and other tax incentives, geothermal power production is now on a more competitive footing with other sources of electricity.
Beyond that, it's good energy policy for the future. Geothermal power reduces this country's need for fossil fuels, both foreign and domestic. Ormat representative Dan Schochet put it bluntly the other day at NAS Fallon when he said, "Why buy oil from countries that hate us?"
The BLM estimates 1,000 megawatts of power could be generated from the subsurface hot water in Churchill County, enough to turn the lights on in 1 million homes. The agreement between the Navy and Ormat is a small step toward an energy plan that will pay many dividends.
The benefits are many for the Navy, Churchill County and Nevada, not the least of which is power generated from a completely non-polluting source. Once completed in an estimated three to four years, the 30-megawatt power plant will supply electricity to the grid in Northern Nevada through a longterm contract with Sierra Pacific Power Company. The Navy gets a cut of the power sales - 5 percent for the first 20 years of the plant's operation and then 15 percent of gross power sales.
Ormat has a proven history of bringing geothermal power projects on line. Currently, Ormat generates 75 megawatts of electricity in Nevada. The company is an innovator in the technology it uses, which allows it to generate power from lower water temperatures. Ormat also is thinking about expanding beyond NAS Fallon and has approached the Bureau of Land Management about an adjacent 6,000 acres that may have geothermal potential.
The tax revenue from a new 30-megawatt facility will certainly benefit the county and come from a couple of different sources. Construction of the power plant will bring tax dollars for supplies and equipment, the employees who run the power plant will live here and pay taxes, and it is an asset to put on the property tax rolls.
Some credit for the interest in developing geothermal power in the county goes to state lawmakers. The Nevada Legislature, in a progressive move other states should follow, passed legislation that requires Nevada utilities to get 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2013. Federal lawmakers have also extended tax breaks to spur power development from renewable resources.
In the past it's been an expensive proposition to build the poles and wire infrastructure to transmit power from remote areas where the hot water is located. Anyone who knows the gold business also understands the significant capital expenditure it takes to drill and develop the resource. With the state mandate for green energy and other tax incentives, geothermal power production is now on a more competitive footing with other sources of electricity.
Beyond that, it's good energy policy for the future. Geothermal power reduces this country's need for fossil fuels, both foreign and domestic. Ormat representative Dan Schochet put it bluntly the other day at NAS Fallon when he said, "Why buy oil from countries that hate us?"
The BLM estimates 1,000 megawatts of power could be generated from the subsurface hot water in Churchill County, enough to turn the lights on in 1 million homes. The agreement between the Navy and Ormat is a small step toward an energy plan that will pay many dividends.
