USA, Idaho: U.S. Geothermal Now Sole Owner of Raft River Power Plant

U.S. Geothermal Inc. Reaches Agreement to Acquire 100 Percent Interest in Raft River Power Plant (News Release)

Raft River Geothermal Power Plant. Photo taken by Ian Crawford on GRC Fieldtrip, 2015.

U.S. Geothermal Inc. announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire its partner's remaining ownership interest in Raft River Energy I LLC from Goldman Sachs. The purchase is scheduled to close on January 2, 2018 and the price consists of a one-time, $350,000 cash payment from U.S. Geothermal to Goldman Sachs. The Company will then own 100 percent of the project.

Raft River Energy I is located in Southern Idaho, near the town of Malta, and achieved commercial operation on April 3, 2008.  The Raft River facility is a single, 18-megawatt (gross) module, with a design output of 13 megawatts (net) annual average based on a specific flow and temperature of geothermal brine. The PPA for the project was signed on September 24, 2007 with the Idaho Power Company and allows for the sale of up to 13 megawatts of electricity on an annual average basis over a 25-year term.  Renewable Energy Credits are sold under a separate contract.  In 2018, the PPA energy price, plus the value of the renewable energy credit will be $74.32 per megawatt-hour.

The company is in a continuing process to increase generation at Raft River through modifications at the existing facility. The addition of production well RRG-5 along with upgrades to the injection system in 2017 increased the average generation from the Raft River plant by approximately 1.6 net megawatts. Due to the positive response from the wellfield, which showed a minimal decrease in fluid levels, a study to increase the capacity of production pump RRG-4 in 2018 will be analyzed.

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