Dec 28 2009
Nevada Geothermal Power made an announcement on the increased production in the company’s flagship Faulkner 1 power plant and the positive interim results obtained from the company’s drilling program. The currently operating drilling program has been designed to enhance the plant output.
The output from the Faulkner 1 power plant has been increased from 3 MW to 30.5 MW (net). Nevada Geothermal Power constructed a pipeline to increase the production of brine and the plant output. Following the construction of this pipeline, 500 gallons per minute of spent geothermal brine is being injected from the plant into Well 44-14. A total of less than US$150,000 was spent in converting the unutilized well for injection.
Well 55-15 was spudded on 20 November, 2009 and a highly permeable “upper” injection zone between 4800 and 5400 feet depth has been encountered. GeothermEx, an independent reservoir consultant, predicted that the injection capacity of the upper zone at the wellfield injection pressure is 2250 gallons per minute, based on the testing of the well when completed to 5962 feet. The chances of obtaining hotter permeable zones at greater depths is highlighted by the temperatures measured at the bottom of the well right below the permeable zone. These temperatures reveal a positive thermal gradient possessing a maximum recorded temperature of 395°F (202°C).
A moderate-diameter injection test well is simultaneously being drilled by Nevada Geothermal Power. This well is located northeast of the existing production field. The US Department of the Treasury has recently issued a grant of $57.9 million for developing extra wells as part of the current program.
Brian Fairbank, CEO and President of Nevada Geothermal Power, remarked that the company is pleased to have earned a new landmark in its production of more than 30 MW (net) of clean and renewable power from its showcase geothermal power plant. Fairbank stated that the company’s aim to obtain 47 MW (net) for the Faulkner 1 power plant will be fulfilled with an increased power production by the new deep injection capability at Well 55-15 as predicted by the interim drilling results.
Source: http://www.nevadageothermal.com/s/Home.asp