- Written by Marc Courtenay
- Tuesday, 24 November 2009
The Geysers in California supply power for several plants. These power plants emit only excess steam and very minor amounts of gases.
Welcome to The Geysers
In the Mayacamas Mountains, located 72 miles north of San Francisco, naturally occurring steam field reservoirs below the earth's surface are being harnessed by Calpine to make clean, green, renewable energy for homes and businesses across Northern California.
The Geysers, comprising 30 square miles along the Sonoma and Lake County border, is the largest complex of geothermal power plants in the world. Calpine (NYSE:CPN), the largest geothermal power producer in the U.S., owns and operates 15 power plants at The Geysers with a net generating capacity of about 725 megawatts of electricity - enough to power 725,000 homes, or a city the size of San Francisco.
The New "Rule" for Clean Energy Investing
Tom Dyson, writing for the Daily Wealth shared some insights from legendary natural resource uber-investor Rick Rule http://www.dailywealth.com
"For the first time in my life," said Rick, "people like Barack Obama and Barbara Streisand think I'm a good guy."
What? Rick Rule has spent the last 40 years figuring out how to dig holes, clear forests, and run pipelines. Socialist politicians and liberal celebrities should hate him. So what's going on?
Rick has started investing in geothermal energy...
At certain spots around the Earth, usually at the boundaries of tectonic plates, heat reaches the surface of the planet in the form of molten rock... or magma. The molten rocks heat the surface water, producing steam.
Geothermal companies harness this steam to drive turbines and produce electricity. Cooling towers turn the steam back into water. The companies inject this water back into the heat source, and the cycle begins again.
Geothermal companies can produce electricity 24 hours a day without any interruption. This energy is cheap, it's clean, it requires no additional fuel, and it's profitable without any government subsidies.
But here's the best part...
The government wants to fight global warming, and it's giving major subsidies to alternative-energy companies. Four weeks ago, the Department of Energy announced it was granting $323 million to 123 geothermal companies in 39 states. And six weeks ago, it announced a program for geothermal companies to get cheap loans, guaranteed by the government.
Rick says you can normally make 10% returns from geothermal energy, but with the government's subsidy, you can now make 18%-20% returns per year. Rick says geothermal has so much potential over the next 10 years, it's his largest personal speculation right now...
Tom went on to explain, "The largest geothermal stock is Ormat Technologies (ORA). With a market cap of $1.9 billion, Ormat generates electricity from geothermal heat. It also supplies equipment and builds plants for other geothermal companies. When it comes to geothermal energy in the U.S., Ormat is the elephant.
"Right now, I'm waiting for Ormat to close at a new high for the year. When Ormat breaks out, you'll know the geothermal bull market is taking off..."
Smaller geothermal companies like U.S.Geothermal (NYSE:HTM) and Nevada Geothermal (NGLPF.OB) have interesting stories but are far riskier and more speculative from an investment standpoint.
Nevada Geothermal Power Inc. (NGP) (TSX-V: NGP, OTC-BB: NGLPF) today announced that the United States Department of the Treasury has informed NGP that the Company’s application in the amount of US $57.9 million for Specified Energy Property in Lieu of Tax/Credits relating to the Blue Mountain ‘Faulkner 1’ geothermal power plant has been approved under Section 1603, Division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Payment of the full amount is expected on or before November 15, 2009.
About Nevada Geothermal Power Inc.:
Nevada Geothermal Power Inc. is an emerging renewable energy developer focused on producing clean, efficient and sustainable geothermal electric power from high temperature geothermal resources, in the United States. NGP currently owns a 100% leasehold interest in four properties: Blue Mountain, Pumpernickel, Black Warrior, all of which are ideally situated in Nevada and Crump Geyser in Oregon. These properties are at different levels of exploration and development. NGP estimates a potential of over 200 MW from the current leaseholds.
NGP’s phase 1 development at Blue Mountain ‘Faulkner 1’ geothermal power plant is Generating Revenue and the Power is On!
Disclosure: We don't currently own any of the companies mentioned in this report.
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