Alaska & Mt.

Spurr

Edana Gustincic & Vivien Le-Sueur

Alaska and Geothermal

According to AEA (Alaska Energy Authority) Alaska is a prime candidate for geothermal energy because of its tectonic and geologic
history.
Geothermal resources have been identified in four general regions:
1)
2)
3)
4)

The Ring of Fire

Wrangell Mountain
The Interior Region
The Southeast Region

What is geothermal energy?

Geothermal energy can be defined as heat from the Earth. It is found to be cleaner than many other sources of energy, and is also a
renewable source. Telltale examples of geothermal resources are hot springs (e.g. Chena Hot Spring north of Fairbanks, White Circle
Hot Springs) and are often the first places where geothermal sites are built to extract the water.

How Geothermal Power

Plants Work
1.

2.

3.

4.
5.

Hot water is pumped from deep

underground through a well under high
pressure.
When the water reaches the surface, the
pressure is dropped, which causes the water
to turn into steam.
The steam spins a turbine, which is
connected to a generator that produces
electricity.
The steam cools off in a cooling tower and
condenses back to water.
The cooled water is pumped back into the
Earth to begin the process again.
(Source: epa.gov)

Ormat Technologies
Over the past four decades, Ormat has pioneered a number of significant advances in the
geothermal energy and recovered energy industries, laying the foundation for the rapid and
profitable growth that we are experiencing today.
Ormat's engineers have developed highly original designs for turbines and other geothermal power
and recovered energy generation equipment components, which have been optimized through the
rigorous application of advanced thermodynamics and fluid dynamics.
Ormat's unique position of being both an independent power producer, as well as a manufacturer
of geothermal energy and recovered energy equipment, provides us with a thorough firsthand
understanding of customer needs and the ability to develop creative solutions based on fieldtested experience.
Ormat, as a geothermal energy company, is a leader in the development of environmentally
benign geothermal power plants that deliver clean, reliable, cost-effective and sustainable
electricity. The companys geothermal power plants produce clean energy with low noise, a low
visual profile and nearly 100% fluid injection for minimal impact on the environment.
Ormats geothermal binary and combined cycle power plants are flexible, adaptable and efficiently
matched to the available geothermal resources, which may encompass high enthalpy, high
pressure steam fields; low-enthalpy, water-dominated sources; and resources with temperatures
and chemistries that vary over time. (Source: ormat.com)
Owns and operates approx. 553(out of total of over 11,ooo MW) MW worldwide, and supplied over
1,410 MW to 24 countries

Sold about 100 remote gate valves for usage along

Trans Alaska Pipeline in 1975 to protect the
environment
Remote gate valves still in use over 30 years later
Developed Manley Hot Springs geothermal unit
Sees Alaska as a new frontier for energy
Bought 15/16 tracts of land on Mt. Spurr to create a
geothermal unit
Paid $3.3 million for 35,000 acres of land

Mt. Spurr Project

In Alaskas push to get the state running on at least 50% renewable energy by 2025, gave Ormat $18
million for project
Would cost approx. $170-368 million to build site(25 miles of roads, 40 miles of transmission lines,
airstrip, power plant, facility, etc.)
Plan was to connect power plant to natural gas-fired power station at Beluga via transmission line,
then bring it to Anchorage. Required a long term partnership
with Alaska Railbelt Electricity to use their grid.
Would provide 50-100 MW annually, with a 95% availability
rate year-round

Failure of Spurr Project

2011: Rock cores show that lithology is inept at storing water and is colder than expected.
Ormat focused mainly on East side of the leased land, where there was no hazard from the Mt. Spurr
Volcano, but low sub-surface temperatures.
East side is a lot flatter, and is easier to do construction upon. However, lithosphere is incapable of
storing water and is colder.
West side is very hilly and in the area of hazard if Mt. Spurr erupts, but the temperatures are higher,
leading to a better likelihood of finding suitable water.
Central area is hardest to build on, but a rock core tested in 2009 showed a lithology hinting at
existence of geothermal resources.

Sources
http://www.ormat.com/news/ormat-technologies-inc-secures-geothermal-rights-alaska
http://www.ormat.com/news
http://www.ormat.com/news/latest-items/ormat-technologies-reports-2014-fourth-quarter-and-year-end-resultsrecord-revenue
https://www.chugachelectric.com/sites/default/files/meetings/agendas/ops_02_08_12_vi.a._update_on_mt.
_spur_geothermal.pdf
http://www.groundtruthtrekking.org/Issues/Renewable-Energy-in-Alaska/Mt-Spurr-Geothermal.html
http://www.adn.com/article/20130510/ormat-says-spurr-geothermal-project-still-works