The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada approved a 30-megawatt (MW) co-development geothermal project with Ormat Technologies, a world-leading geothermal company, at Carson Lake, Nev. The project will sit on federal lands, a portion of which includes the Naval Air Station at Fallon, Nev.
Also approved was Nevada Power's proposal to invest in a six-MW heat recovery energy generating facility at Goodsprings, approximately 30 miles south of Las Vegas. The project will be located at the Kern River Gas compressor station, and Ormat is supplying the heat-recovery generating equipment and will build the project for Nevada Power.
Nevada Power is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sierra Pacific Resources, a utility listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
"The Commission's action marks a significant milestone, demonstrating our company's commitment to invest in renewables projects," said Michael Yackira, president and CEO of Sierra Pacific Resources. "These facilities will make an essential contribution to help assure clean, affordable and reliable energy, somewhat buffering our customers from future fossil fuel market uncertainties, most notably natural gas price increases."
Yackira added, "Nevada is already number one in solar and geothermal power per capita and we are continuing to push forward aggressively. We currently have 23 other geothermal plants under contract, and are actively pursuing further investments in geothermal, solar and wind energy."
Nevada Power provides electricity to about 826,000 residential and business customers in a 4,500-square-mile southern Nevada service area.
Source: Nevada Power press release
