Clean-energy export

Ormat, a Reno, Nev.-based renewable energy company, has entered into a 20-year purchase agreement with Nevada Power Company and is preparing to build a geothermal plant in Grass Valley.

The project will consist of a binary or combined steam/binary power plant that re-injects 100 percent of all geothermal fluid produced, while consuming no water or chemicals. Pending approval of the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, it is expected to be up and running by late 2010.

Nevada Power Company is a subsidiary of Sierra Pacific Resources, which previously has entered into 12 similar agreements with Ormat.

Nevada legislation requires that 15 percent of all electricity generated within the state come from new renewable energy sources by the end of 2012. Once constructed, the state-of-the-art plant is expected to increase Ormat’s total output to Sierra Pacific by between 18 and 30 megawatts.