Thursday, April 12, 2018

USA, California: Community Choice Aggregator Gets 240 MWh Geothermal Power a Year from The Geysers

The Power of The Geysers (Silicon Valley Power)

At a state-owned facility 72 miles north of San Francisco, a powerful force deep underground is harnessed to supply almost five percent of California’s electricity. The facility, known as The Geysers, taps into a reservoir of steam over two miles below ground and turns it into usable electricity. Each year, this steam generates up to 5.5 million Megawatt-hours (MWh) of power, making The Geysers the largest geothermal field in the world.

Luckily for Santa Clara (through Silicon Valley Power), we have invested in this renewable, reliable power resource. Through the Northern California Power Agency (NCPA), we co-own two geothermal plants at The Geysers. Together, our plants produce up to 240 MWh of power each year – enough to power as many as 240,000 homes among our combined customers.