The Geysers, north of San Francisco

21 April 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Green Technologies, San Francisco Bay Area, Environment Reading Time:  6 minutes

© geysers.com

© geysers.com

The Geysers is a complex of 22 geothermal power plants, drawing steam from more than 350 wells, located in the Mayacamas Mountains 72 mi (116 km) north of San Francisco, California. The largest in the world, the Geysers has 1517 MW of active installed capacity with an average production factor of 63 % (955 MW). Calpine Corporation operates and owns 19 of the 22 active plants in the Geysers and is currently the United States’ largest producer of geothermal energy. Two other plants are owned jointly by the Northern California Power Agency and the City of Santa Clara’s municipal Electric Utility (now called Silicon Valley Power). The Bottle Rock Power plant owned by the US Renewables Group has only recently been reopened. Another plant is under development by Ram Power Corp, formerly Western Geopower, with operation set to begin in 2010. Since the activities of one geothermal plant affects those nearby, the consolidation of plant ownership at The Geysers has been beneficial because the plants operate cooperatively instead of in their own short-term interest.   read more…

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