Ormat seeks multifold gain in geothermal capacity
The solution could create renewable geothermal electricity in many areas across the US
Merav Ankori 19 Feb 08 14:33
Ormat Industries Ltd. (TASE: ORMT) is seeking to greatly expand its sources for electricity production. Subsidiary Ormat Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ORA) has initiated work on the first application of an Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) utilizing a production well at a commercial geothermal site. This project will demonstrate the viability of EGS and the technology's potential to generate clean, renewable baseload geothermal electricity in many areas throughout the US.
Until now, Ormat has used geothermal sources for electricity production. EGS enhances the permeability of underground strata making it possible to extract additional heat from a reservoir's rocks. The water needed to convert the heat to energy is drawn from external sources. While industry sources estimate the potential global electricity output with conventional geothermal technology at 70,000 megawatts, it is believed that with EGS, US production alone could greatly exceed that amount.
Last week, Ormat announced that, together with the US Department of Energy, GeothermEx Inc., and other stakeholders it would apply EGS technology to increase geothermal production from well number DP 27-15 at Ormat's Desert Peak facility near Reno, Nevada.
Ormat chairman and CTO Yehuda Bronicki said, "Ormat anticipates Desert Peak will be the country's first commercial project to tap into an EGS resource and produce substantial levels of electricity providing a rebirth for certain geothermal prospects in the US. Our objective in the Desert Peak EGS project is to demonstrate that EGS technology can achieve its potential of providing 100,000 MW of clean, base-load power, as identified in last year's Department of Energy study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and show that this technology will enable geothermal electricity to be produced in regions where it is not currently economically viable."
GeothermEx president Subir Sanyal said, that EGS could boost the Desert Peak production of 11 megawatts of electricity from convention geothermal technology to more than 50 megawatts.
Ormat Technologies president Yoram Bronicki added, "The idea is that we bring the water needed for the process from an external source to enhance the heat from the rock and bring this heat to the surface. The idea is to drill a well into the hot rock and create a channel through which the water is injected into the hot rock. The water then travels through fissures in the rock to a production well which is drilled in advance. Thus the heated water generates power. The water can be reused at the production well, creating a closed cycle similar to a typical Ormat geothermal station. This method generates very hot water, which enables very efficient operation."
While it sounds straightforward, Ormat notes that support for the Desert Peak EGS project includes $1.6 million in direct Department of Energy funding, and involves more than two decades of development work at five national laboratories, working capital from Ormat, and the use of existing wells and facilities at the Ormat site. Yehuda Bronicki added the participants in this R&D project also included the Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, University of Utah EGI, TerraTek, Pinnacle Technologies and the US Geological Survey.
Yoram Bronicki said, "The research institutes mainly help us with the development of theories and models. We buy the tools from companies in the field, and we manage the project and the work, which will enable the success of the technology, if we achieve it."
He predicts that the current R&D stage of the Desert Peak project will take two years "at which point we'll know whether this element succeeded. There's a good chance of success, and I believe that the geothermal industry will develop in this direction."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 19, 2008
