VALE, Ore. (AP) — Work is heading for a June startup at a geothermal plant that the state Department of Energy says will be the first in the state to produce energy on an industrial scale.
It’s near Vale, west of Ontario in Malheur County. The Bend Bulletin reports (http://bit.ly/A46WG5 ) the developer, U.S. Geothermal Inc. of Boise, Idaho, plans to use the heat from a 300-degree reservoir 2,500 feet underground to generate power. The plant’s cost is estimated at $130 million.
Idaho Power Co. will buy the electricity. A spokesman says it will supply enough power for about 700 typical homes in the utility’s service area.
A second geothermal generating plant is expected online in 2013 in southern Lake County. A Nevada company is building it.
