Ormat, NV Energy sign 30MW geothermal power contract

Ormat Technologies, Inc. announced this week that it has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with NV Energy, Inc. for the purchase 30 megawatts (MW) from the McGinness Hills Geothermal project, which is currently under construction.

The PPA is subject to various approvals including the approval of the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada and is projected to come on line in 2012.

When completed, the McGinness Hills project will increase the total output supplied from Ormat to NV Energy, Inc. to approximately 135 MWs, helping NV Energy to meet its renewable energy requirement. Nevada's renewable portfolio standard legislation requires 15 percent of all electricity generated in the state to be derived from new renewable energy sources by the end of 2012.

Dita Bronicki, CEO of Ormat said, “We have enjoyed a long and successful relationship with NV Energy and are grateful for its support of geothermal power. This PPA is further evidence that geothermal can supply a significant amount of power and is a preferable choice given its cost effectiveness, reliability and baseload nature.”

Ormat plans to apply for federal stimulus funds to help pay for the project, including investment tax credits or performance tax credits, and an Energy Department loan guarantee to back debt financing.

The McGinness Hills project will consist of Ormat binary energy converters that re-inject the geothermal fluid produced.

Ormat Technologies is the Reno, Nevada-based subsidiary of Israel-based Ormat Industries.

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BrightSource Energy expands Nevada solar thermal project to 960 MW

BrightSource Energy, Inc., a leading developer of large-scale solar thermal power plants, announced today that it is expanding a land deal in Nevada that could enlarge the the project's potential to 960 megawatts, enough to power almost 500,000 homes.

BrightSource has reached a preliminary agreement with Nevada’s Coyote Springs Land Company™ to expand upon a previously-announced private land agreement in March 2009 to provide sites for up to 600 megawatts of solar thermal power.

The Coyote Springs project is part of BrightSource Energy’s strategy to develop 4 gigawatts of solar thermal power in California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, including its first project located in Ivanpah, California. The Ivanpah project is in the final permitting stages with the California Energy Commission and the Bureau of Land Management, and is expected to begin construction in early 2010.

The size of the site has now expanded to include a twelve-square-mile area within the larger Coyote Springs development in Lincoln County. The site is located on private property near transmission lines and, as part of the broader development site, has already received environmental permits from the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and various other federal, state and county agencies. The power generated from the Coyote Springs site could meet demand generated in the Coyote Springs development, southern Nevada, as well as deliver power to California.

BrightSource Energy is the parent of Jerusalem, Israel-based BrightSource Industries Israel (BSII), formerly called Luz II. BSII performs R&D, production and project engineering for its California-based parent company.

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BrightSource Energy plans 600MW solar thermal project in Nevada

BrightSource Energy, Inc., developer of large-scale solar thermal energy plants, announced last month that it has reached agreement on the principal terms of a private land contract with the Coyote Springs Land Company in Nevada.

The agreement marks a critical step in the development of a solar thermal energy project that could provide up to 600 megawatts of clean reliable solar thermal energy to both the Nevada and California markets.


"With abundant sun and access to key markets in Nevada and California, the Coyote Springs site is an ideal location to develop clean, reliable and low cost solar thermal energy," Tom Doyle, executive vice president of project development for BrightSource.

The power from BrightSource's project could serve not only Coyote Springs, but also other BrightSource customers such as the Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric, said Keely Wachs, a spokesman for BrightSource, according to Greentech Media.

BrightSource Industries (Israel) Ltd. ("BSII"), formerly known as Luz II Ltd., headquartered in Jerusalem, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BrightSource Energy. The BSII team provides product development and engineering services, and supplies the solar fields, including heliostats, solar boilers, and control systems for all of BrightSource Energy's projects.

Arnold Goldman, the founder of BrightSource Energy, recently addressed the CleanIsrael meetup group in Tel Aviv. A transcript of his remarks is available on the group's web site.

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BrightSource Energy planning 1200 MW solar power facility in Nevada

BrightSource Energy is planning to build three solar thermal power plants, which will produce 1,200 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to power 900,000 homes, at a desert site northeast of Las Vegas.

According to a local news report in Nevada, BrightSource has been in talks with Overton Power District, a public utility, for several months about the possibility of upgrading existing transmission lines that would deliver to the grid increased power generated by the solar facilities

Last week, BrighSource executives brought local officials out to the site and then delivered a presentation on the proposed facilities.

John Woolard, CEO of Bright Source, and Tom Doyle, the company’s Senior VP of Project Development, said they plan to build three 400-megawatt plants on Mormom Mesa, federal lands 65 miles from Las Vegas (see map).

“We have a plan of development we’ll submit to BLM [the Bureau of Land Management, which must approve the plants], Doyle says. "We’re hoping to be operational as early as 2012, pending an outtake agreement (with the local utility).”

Woolard says the plants’ environmental footprint “would be as benign as possible. It will be carbon free with low water usage and will use one-third to one-quarter the land use a wind facility would use. It’s something we’re very focused on.”

Doyle said southern Nevada’s unique situation as a hub of electrical power would enable Bright Source to send solar-generated electricity to other states.

“The first phase is a 400-megawatt project,” Doyle said. “We can sell the power in Nevada. We’ll expand up to 1,200 megawatts and sell to other states. We’re using one state’s indigenous resource – clean power – to bring to other states.”

One hundred megawatts of power is enough to take care of the power needs of 75,000 homes, Woolard said.

Headquartered in Oakland, CA, BrightSource has raised over $160 million from investors such as VantagePoint Venture Partners, JP Morgan, and Google.org. Last spring, the company entered into a series of contracts with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to build up to 900 MW of solar power in California at a cost of $2-3 billion.

Luz II, based in Israel, is a wholly owned subsidiary of BrightSource Energy, Inc. responsible for the company's solar technology development, plant design and engineering. In June, 2008, BrightSource and Luz II dedicated their Solar Energy Development Center in the Negev's Rotem Industrial Park.

It was reported last month that BrightSource is opening an office and looking for partners in Arizona and that the company plans to build solar thermal power plants near Phoenix.

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