NPGS Monthly Dinner Meeting: Dixie Valley Geothermal Power Project—September 3, 2015
What: Nevada Petroleum & Geothermal Society—Monthly Dinner Meeting
When: Thursday, Sep 3, 2015
Where: Ramada Reno Hotel, 1000 East 6th Street, Reno, NV
Speaker: Dick Benoit, Consulting Geothermal Geologist, Reno, NV
Topic: Dixie Valley Geothermal Power Project
Abstract: The 56 MW net Dixie Valley geothermal power project has now operated at more or less full output for 27 years. This success was primarily due to three companies with very different character and strengths being involved during the development phase between 1974 and 1988. The wide spacing of exploration wells early in the project history greatly reduced dry hole or step-out risk during the field development phase. The large horizontal and vertical separation between producers and injectors has been successful in allowing modest production fluid temperature declines. The project evolved over its initial 9 years of production from a 49.8 MW net project with a projected long-term production well makeup schedule to a 56 MW net project supported by a cold groundwater injection augmentation program that stabilized the reservoir pressure and eliminated the need for future makeup production wells. The timing of this fairly intense and costly activity coincided with a period of high electricity prices in the Standard Offer #4 contract that allowed significant ongoing field development expenditures. Since 2000 project improvements have shifted from the wellfield to power plant modifications. The turbine was modified to enable the power plant to operate at lower pressures and a 5 MW net binary plant was installed on the injection line.
About the speaker: Dick Benoit is a semi-retired consulting geothermal geologist with 42 years of work in the geothermal industry. He has a Bachelors degree in geology from Western Washington University in 1970 and a Masters degree in geology from the University of Montana in 1972. Dick began working in the geothermal industry in 1973. He was the Resource Manager of the Dixie Valley geothermal field from 1986 until 2000.
Details:
Cocktail Reception 6:30, Skyline Bar, 14th Floor
HOSTED BY: National Oilwell Varco
Dinner Served at 7:00 PM
NPGS Members $20, Non-Members $23, Students $10
Please RSVP by Monday, August 31, for the Dinner Meeting here.
If you have RSVP’d, and find that you cannot attend, please notify NPGS as soon as you are able as NPGS will be charged for all no-shows. Thank you for your consideration.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Vicki D. Ehni
Ehni Enterprises, Inc
P.O. Box 4228
Carson City, NV 89702-4228
(775) 883-1107
vehni@aol.com