Nevada Power and Ormat to Co-Develop Carson Lake Geothermal Project

Sierra Pacific Resources’s wholly owned subsidiary Nevada Power has entered into a joint ownership agreement with Ormat Nevada for the co-development of the Carson Lake geothermal energy project near Fallon, Nevada.

Nevada Power stated that a 24MW net capacity power purchase agreement (PPA) for the Carson Lake project was originally awarded as part of its 2005 renewable energy request for proposal.

With the new agreement, the project’s ultimate size will be based on the results of drilling underway by Ormat, but is expected to be at least 30MW net. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Nevada Power will file the joint ownership agreement with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada for approval and to request that the current PPA between Nevada Power and Ormat be expanded to reflect the new co-development agreement.

The geothermal site is located on Bureau of Land Management and Navy land, both on and adjacent to the Fallon naval air station, approximately 70 miles east of Reno, Nevada. It is favorably sited in a known geothermal resource area and in the vicinity of a number of other geothermal energy projects, according to Nevada Power.

Michael Yackira, Sierra Pacific’s president and CEO, said: “Development of renewable energy projects is a key element of our strategy and this marks a major step forward in our commitment to directly invest in such projects. Ormat has a proven track record as a top geothermal developer and we are very pleased to be able to reach an agreement with them to co-develop and expand the Carson Lake project.”