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More Clean Energy Jobs Coming to Nevada

Loan Guarantee for Geothermal Projects Will Create 300 Jobs, Power 88,000 Homes in Nevada

Nevada - The Clean Energy Project (CEP) applauds the Department of Energy (DOE) for issuing a conditional renewable energy loan guarantee commitment for three geothermal plants in Pershing, Lander, and Elko counties.  The geothermal project, sponsored by Ormat Nevada, Inc. will create 330 construction jobs, 65 permanent jobs, and thousands of indirect jobs for Nevadans, while producing enough energy to power 88,000 homes.  The plants will draw hot water from underground to heat a secondary fluid that is vaporized and run through a turbine to create energy.  Power from the project will be sold to Nevada Power Co., a subsidiary of NV Energy.

The announcement comes just one week after Fotowatio’s 20-megawatt Apex solar project Northeast of Las Vegas received a loan guarantee commitment and two weeks after a commitment was granted for SolarReserve’s 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes solar project in Tonopah.  Later this month, the National Geothermal Academy will begin its inaugural summer session at the University of Nevada, Reno.

“Nevada’s Clean Energy Economy is definitely on a winning streak,” said Lydia Ball, Executive Director for the Clean Energy Project. “This project further establishes us as leaders in geothermal development and creates good-paying jobs for Nevadans, while taking advantage of our vast in-state renewable resources.”

DOE Secretary Stephen Chu, Senator Harry Reid, and Congresswoman Shelley Berkley made the announcement about the loan guarantee this morning.  The loan guarantee program, also known as Section 1705 of the Energy Policy Act, helps large-scale clean energy projects move forward by providing government-backed loans that are the catalyst for private investment in capable new technologies.  Each dollar in loan guarantees leverages roughly $13 in private investment, and no project has defaulted in repaying the loans.  In most cases, the government makes money off the interest collected.

Several other projects-including Fulcrum BioEnergy's Sierra BioFuels Plant in Storey County, and U.S. Geothermal's San Emidio geothermal expansion project near Gerlach-are also moving through the loan guarantee process and will provide thousands of jobs for Nevadans.

Clean Energy Project is a non-partisan, non-profit tax deductible organization dedicated to moving Nevada’s clean energy economy forward. Clean Energy Project focuses on educating the public on the vast benefits of fully developing a clean energy economy that produces good jobs, stabilizes energy bills and creates energy independence for our nation.

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