Blue Mountain Faulkner 1 Geothermal Power Plant

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Blue Mountain Faulkner 1 Geothermal Power Plant
Blue Mountain Faulkner 1 Geothermal Power Plant
CountryUnited States
Location Humboldt County, Nevada
Coordinates 40°59′43″N118°08′34″W / 40.99528°N 118.14278°W / 40.99528; -118.14278
StatusOperational
Commission date October 2009
Construction costUS$180 million
Owner Ormat Technologies
OperatorNevada Geothermal Power
Geothermal power station
Type Binary cycle
Min. source temp.302 °F (150 °C)
Wells5
Max. well depth8,000 ft (2,400 m)
Power generation
Nameplate capacity 50 MW

Blue Mountain Faulkner 1 Geothermal Power Plant is a geothermal power plant located in Humboldt County, Nevada, United States. It was acquired by Ormat Technologies in 2025. It was operated by AltaRock Energy since 2015 [1] and, previously, Nevada Geothermal Power Inc. [2] [3] [ 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. [2]

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. [2] The depth of wells is 4,000–8,000 feet (1,200–2,400 m). [3]

The technology was supplied by Ormat Technologies. [2] [3] 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. [2]

References

  1. GeoEnergy, Think; Richter, Alexander (2025-05-07). "Ormat acquires Blue Mountain Geothermal Project in Nevada" . Retrieved 2025-07-24.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Neville, Angela (2010-12-01). "Top Plant: Blue Mountain Faulkner 1 Geothermal Power Plant, Humboldt County, Nevada". Power. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  3. 1 2 3 "Blue Mountain Geothermal Power Plant Nevada, USA". power-technology.com. Net Resources International. Retrieved 2010-12-18.