AltaRock gets $25 million for Orgeon project

By Loralee Stevens, Business Journal Staff Reporter

AltaRock Geothermal and a partner will get a fresh infusion of nearly $25 million in stimulus money from the Department of Energy to develop an Engineered Geothermal System in Newberry, Ore.

The rest of the article can be read at NorthBayBusinessJournal.com

China promises 100 clean energy projects for Africa

By Reuters

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao offered Africa $10 billion in concessional loans over the next three years, saying on Sunday that China was a “true and trusted friend” of the continent and its people.

The rest of the article can be read at Reuters.com

Kenya: Geothermal Development Company key driver of geothermal development

By by: lxrichter (Think GeoEnergy)

A recent article from Kenya looks at the Geothermal Development Company and how it “will fast-track the exploration and exploitation of geothermal energy in the country to increase the country’s power output.

The rest of the article can be read at ThinkGeoEnergy.com

Australian energy major, TRUenergy, announces $57 million entry into Petratherm geothermal project

TRUenergy has further expanded its sizeable renewable energy portfolio, announcing a strategic $57 million commitment to geothermal energy through a joint venture with Petratherm, a leading developer of geothermal technology in Australia and overseas.

The farm-in arrangement enables TRUenergy to earn up to a 30% stake in Petratherms advanced Paralana project over time, in line with the achievement of specific project milestones. The Paralana project is in the northern Flinders Ranges in South Australia and is currently being developed by Petratherm and its other joint venture partner, Beach Petroleum.

The rest of the article can be read at TrueEnergy.com

Vanadium: Energy’s storage solution

By National Post, Canada

The Vanadium-Redox Flow Battery (VRFB), invented at the University of New South Wales in Australia, is structurally and chemically different from any other battery in ways that could help us overcome battery technology’s current shortcomings. VRFBs are nontoxic, have a lifespan that can be measured in decades, and do not self-discharge while idle or generate high amounts of heat while charging.

The rest of the article can be read at NationalPost.com

Horns Rev2 the Danish OffShore WindFarm in the North Sea is Now Producing Power

By Ocean Power Magazine

DONG Energy’s offshore wind farm Horns Rev 2 in the North Sea is now supplying the first CO2-free power to the Danish national grid. The farm’s total of 91 wind turbines will be installed during the course of 2009, but the first wind turbines have already been put into operation.

The rest of the article can be read at OceanPowerMagazine.net

China nuclear power installed capacity expected to reach 70 GW by 2020, scientists

By Yan (ChinaView.cn)

The country currently has 11 reactors, with a total nuclear power installed capacity of 9.08 GW, Pan Ziqiang, director of Science and Technology Committee of China National Nuclear Corporation, told participants to an international summit on cleanenergy held here Monday.

The rest of the article can be read at ChinaView.cn

Ocean Power Technologies (Nasdaq: OPTT, AIM: OPT) Completes Successful Trials of Underwater Substation Pod

Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. announces the successful completion of trials of its Underwater Substation Pod (“USP”) product in Spain. The USP, based on the Company’s proprietary design, has been developed to facilitate the collection, networking and transforming of power and data generated by up to ten of its PowerBuoys for transmission to a shore-based electricity grid by one subsea power cable. It has been built as an open platform, and can therefore provide “plug and play” connectivity for any offshore energy device linked to it.

The rest of the article can be read at Ocean Power Technologies

Department of Energy Awards $338 Million to Accelerate Domestic Geothermal Energy

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced up to $338 million in Recovery Act funding for the exploration and development of new geothermal fields and research into advanced geothermal technologies. These grants will support 123 projects in 39 states, with recipients including private industry, academic institutions, tribal entities, local governments, and DOE’s National Laboratories. The grants will be matched more than one-for-one with an additional $353 million in private and non-Federal cost-share funds.

These grants are directed towards identifying and developing new geothermal fields and reducing the upfront risk associated with geothermal development through innovative exploration and drilling projects and data development and collection. In addition, the grants will support the deployment and creative financing approaches for ground source heat pump demonstration projects across the country.

Collectively, these projects will represent a dramatic expansion of the U.S. geothermal industry and will create or save thousands of jobs in drilling, exploration, construction, and operation of geothermal power facilities and manufacturing of ground source heat pump equipment.

The projects selected for negotiation of awards fall in six categories:

* Innovative Exploration and Drilling Projects (up to $98.1 million): Twenty-four projects have been selected focusing on the development of new geothermal fields using innovative sensing, exploration, and well-drilling technologies.

* Coproduced, Geopressured, and Low Temperature Projects (up to $20.7 million): Eleven projects have been selected for the development of new low-temperature geothermal fields, a vast but currently untapped set of geothermal resources. This includes geothermal heat found in the hundreds of thousands of oil and gas wells around the U.S., where up to ten barrels of hot water are produced for every barrel of oil.

* Enhanced Geothermal Systems Demonstrations (up to $51.4 million): Three projects have been selected for the exploration, drilling and development of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) to validate power production from deep hot rock resources using innovative technologies and approaches.

* Enhanced Geothermal Systems Components Research and Development / Analysis (up to $81.5 million): Forty-five projects have been selected to focus on research and development of new technologies to find and drill into deep hot rock formations, stimulate enhanced geothermal reservoirs, and convert the heat to power.

* Geothermal Data Development, Collection and Maintenance (up to $24.6 million): Three projects have been selected for the population of a comprehensive nationwide geothermal resource database to help identify and assess new fields.

* Ground Source Heat Pump Demonstrations (up to $61.9 million): Thirty-seven projects have been selected to demonstrate the deployment of ground source heat pumps for heating and cooling of a variety of buildings for a variety of customer types, including academic institutions, local governments and commercial buildings.

The original document can be viewed at energy.gov

Northern Nevada gets $93 million for geothermal projects

By ERIN KELLY (Gannett News Service)

The money will fund 20 projects in Northern Nevada and create an estimated 1,100 jobs, said U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who made the announcement with Chu. It also will benefit Nevada companies developing five projects outside the state.

The rest of the article can be read at RGJ.com