UNIT 1 - THE GEYSERS

SOUTH MEAGER GEOTHERMAL PROJECT

Western GeoPower Unit 1 – The Geysers

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Project History
The Geysers Geothermal Field has produced commercial geothermal power continuously since the early 1960s and produces “dry’ steam – a feature that reduces both capital and operating costs of power generation. Present generation from the three operating companies in the field – Calpine Corporation, U.S. Renewables and Northern California Power Agency – is about 900 megawatts (MW).

A commercial power plant of 62 MWe (gross) capacity, known as PG&E Unit 15, operated at the WGP leasehold between 1979 and 1989. It is now recognized that the Unit 15 plant was oversized for the available resource. During that time The Geysers Field experienced a decline in productivity as the fields resource was depleting, for this reason, the wells supplying the plant experienced a rapid decline in productivity. The PG&E plant was shut down in 1989 and dismantled and the wells were plugged. Since the mid-1990s, the rate of decline in well productivity at The Geysers has eased substantially and reservoir pressure has stabilized. In large part, this is due to the injection of treated municipal waste water into the reservoir.

The demonstrated production history and large database of resource information available from the leasehold, minimizes the risks of new development. GeothermEx, Inc. of Richmond, California projects that the Unit 1 leasehold will support a 35 MWe power plant for a minimum of 20 years, with generation continuing at a slightly reduced output factor for a further 10 years.

GeothermEx is a recognized international authority in the evaluation of geothermal resources and has been involved in the development of all the geothermal fields in the United States and over 750 projects worldwide. The company has been associated with the development of The Geysers Geothermal Field for over 30 years.

Project Facilities
The project involves the design, construction and operation of physical facilities comprising production and injection wells, a gathering and injection system, a power generation plant and a transmission line and inter-tie.  Capital costs of design, construction, finance charges and drilling construction are estimated at US $1 50 million. A general description of the facilities follows:

Production and Injection Wells
Western GeoPower anticipates drilling eight production wells and one injection well on the property. . The drill pads require little work since the existing pads from the previous Unit 15 operations are still in good condition and the site is well served by existing access roads. The design envisions two pads with four wells each.

Power Plant
The power plant will consist of a 35 MW Top Exhausting Geothermal Condensing Steam Turbine Generator supplied by Fuji Electric Corporation. This is a conventional turbine proven in geothermal service worldwide.

Transmission Line
An existing 115 kilovolt (kV) transmission line that runs adjacent to the location of the proposed power plant can be accessed by tapping the line. No transmission upgrades are anticipated since the lines have been operating below capacity for a number of years.