On Friday, April 11, Brennan Williams-Mieding and 10 other Geosciences students toured the Neal Hot Springs Geothermal Power Plant near Vale, Oregon, guided by Scott Nichols, Regulatory Affairs Manager at Ormat Technologies Inc.
The tour began with an overview at Perk Coffee in Vale, where Scott explained how geothermal energy is produced into energy by harvesting steam from fault zones deep within the Earth. Students then visited two major production wells above the Neal Hot Springs plant. There they learned how steam is drawn up via pipes drilled to ~2,800 feet below the surface. The steam is used to power turbines which in turn generate electricity, and are later cooled and reinjected into the ground at depths nearing 6,800 feet to sustain flow within the system.
Power generated at Neal Hot Springs (~22 MW) is transferred to Idaho Power via on-site transformer, and then delivered to consumers in the Treasure Valley.
Students were especially impressed by the system’s self-sufficiency and remote-monitoring capabilities, as well as its minimal environmental impact. Key takeaways included geothermal’s 24/7 operation, small land footprint, low emissions, and potential for broader adoption as a renewable resource.
Student Thoughts:
- I’m interested in learning more about how states like Idaho can promote and attract more geothermal development.
- I was impressed by how efficient the diurnal and seasonal trends in geothermal were when aligned with temperature data! What a concept…that a sustainable, renewable energy would counteract the effects of other natural systems perfectly.
- I was struck by how self-sufficient the entire geothermal system was, and how much work can now be done remotely! Once the extensive monitoring instrumentation and software were set up, there was one person monitoring on site (only one person was monitoring), with others able to keep tabs on the equipment elsewhere in the country, aside from regular maintenance.