December 1, 2008

Top Plants: Thermo Plant, Beaver County, Utah

Angela Neville, JD

Owner/Operator: Raser Technologies

Geothermal energy projects are gaining steam in many parts of the western U.S., in large part because geothermal power has the advantage of being a renewable energy source that provides baseload power with no emissions and no waste by-products. One example of the latest developments in geothermal power generation is the recently completed 10-MW geothermal plant in rural Utah, which uses innovative modular power generation units.

The U.S. continues to be one of the lead countries in the booming geothermal power market, according to the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA). Today the U.S. is the world leader in on-line geothermal energy capacity, producing 30% of the worldwide total.

Electricity is currently generated from geothermal energy in seven U.S. states: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Idaho. Other states, such as Oregon and Wyoming, are soon to be added to the list. As of August 2008, the GEA estimated that the U.S. had a total installed capacity of 2,957.94 MW of electricity generated by geothermal power.

More capacity is being added to that total with the introduction of the Thermo Plant in Beaver County, Utah, which is designed to produce 14 MW of gross electrical power (approximately 10 to 11 MW net) once it becomes operational toward the end of this year. It is the first commercial geothermal power plant built in Utah after a hiatus of more than two decades (Figure 1).

1. Some like it hot. This aerial view shows the completed geothermal plant. The power generation units were manufactured off-site and then transported to the Thermo Plant site, where they were connected to the wells and cooling towers. Courtesy: Raser Technologies