Blue Mountain Faulkner 1 Geothermal Power Plant

Blue Mountain Faulkner 1 Geothermal Power Plant is a geothermal power plant located in Humboldt County, Nevada, United States. It is owned and operated by Nevada Geothermal Power Inc.[1][2][unreliable source?] Produced electricity is sold to NV Energy through a 21-mile (34 km) 120-kV transmission line to the transmission grid connection at Mill City, Nevada.[1]

Blue Mountain Faulkner 1 Geothermal Power Plant
Map
CountryUnited States
LocationHumboldt County, Nevada
Coordinates40°59′43″N 118°08′34″W / 40.99528°N 118.14278°W / 40.99528; -118.14278
StatusOperational
Commission dateOctober 2009
Construction costUS$180 million
OperatorNevada Geothermal Power
Geothermal power station
TypeBinary cycle
Min. source temp.302 °F (150 °C)
Wells5
Max. well depth8,000 ft (2,400 m)
Power generation
Make and modelOrmat Technologies
Nameplate capacity50 MW

The plant was completed in October 2009. It has an installed capacity of 50 megawatts (67,000 hp). As of November 2010, the plant operated at a net output of 37 megawatts (50,000 hp). It is a binary cycle geothermal plant, which uses a closed-loop heat exchange system. In this system hot geothermal water with an average temperature of 302 °F (150 °C) heats a secondary fluid, isobutane, which is vaporized and used to run a turbine. The geothermal water is supplied by five production wells and injected by six injection wells. There is a program to add three new production wells.[1] The depth of wells is 4,000–8,000 feet (1,200–2,400 m).[2]

The technology was supplied by Ormat Technologies.[1][2] The well drilling contractors were ThermaSource and Ensign. The piping contractor was JFMPE and the reservoir engineering was handled by GeoThermEx Inc. The plant cost US$180 million, of which $57.9 million was funded under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Neville, Angela (2010-12-01). "Top Plant: Blue Mountain Faulkner 1 Geothermal Power Plant, Humboldt County, Nevada". Power. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  2. ^ a b c "Blue Mountain Geothermal Power Plant Nevada, USA". power-technology.com. Net Resources International. Retrieved 2010-12-18.