Gold Bull Resources Corporation (QB)【GBRCF】株式ニュース

Article regarding Nevada Geothermal in this Sundays Arkansas Democrat Gazette, I'm sure it appeared in many Gannett papers across the country.

WASHINGTON — In a remote desert spot in northern Nevada, there is a geothermal plant run by a politically connected cleanenergy startup that has relied heavily on an Obama administration loan guarantee and is now facing financial turmoil.

The company is Nevada Geothermal Power, which like Solyndra, the now-famous California solar company, is struggling with debt after encountering problems at its only operating plant.

After a series of technical missteps that are draining Nevada Geothermal’s cash reserves, its own auditor concluded in a filing released in late September that there was “significant doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

It is a description that echoes the warning issued in 2010 by auditors hired by Solyndra, which benefited from the same Energy Department loan guarantee before its collapse in August resulted in criticism of the Obama administration.

The parallels between the companies illustrate the risk inherent in building the clean-energy marketplace in the United States, government officials and industry experts say. The loan guarantee program exists because none of these ventures is a sure bet.

There are important differences between the fate of Nevada Geothermal and Solyndra, the maker of solar panels that has filed for bankruptcy.

The amount of money the federal government has at stake with Nevada Geothermal — a loan guarantee of $79 million plus at least $66 million in grants — is much smaller than the $528 million investment in Solyndra. There have been no allegations of wrongdoing by Nevada Geothermal or its Blue Mountain, Nev., plant.

Executives of the company express confidence that they can recover and say the government investment is not at risk, despite the challenges they face because of a high debt load and lower-than-expected energy output at their plant.

“We are here,” said Brian Fairbank, the chief executive, who like other company executives works out of Vancouver, British Columbia, where Nevada Geothermal has corporate offices. “We’re doing OK.”

An Energy Department spokesman said he considered the Nevada Geothermal project a success, noting that the company had a long-term contract to sell its power.

“The Blue Mountain power plant is up and running, generating clean, renewable power and has been consistently making its loan payments on time and in full,” the spokesman, Dan Leistikow, said.

The company also did not hire half a dozen Washington lobbying firms, as Solyndra did, and there is no evidence of White House involvement in pushing the project.

But the Nevada Geothermal project has benefited from the support of a bipartisan collection of Nevada politicians, most notably Sen. Harry Reid, a Democrat and the Senate majority leader, who has called his home state the “Saudi Arabia of geothermal energy.”

Nationally, geothermal energy produces only about 3,000 megawatts of power, a minuscule slice of the national electricity supply. The Nevada Geothermal plant generates just 35 megawatts — enough to serve about 35,000 homes for a year — and the company has only 22 employees in the state.

But Reid has taken the nascent geothermal industry under his wing, pressuring the Department of Interior to move more quickly on applications to build clean-energy projects on federally owned land and urging other members of Congress to expand federal tax incentives to help build geothermal plants, benefits that Nevada Geothermal has taken advantage of.

“This project is exactly the type of initiative we need to ensure Nevada creates goodpaying jobs,” Reid said in a statement in April 2010, after he visited the company’s Nevada plant. That was two months before the project even got conditional approval for the Energy Department loan guarantee.

During the tour, Reid had a chance to see electric generation equipment installed by a company called Ormat Technologies, which is a Nevada Geothermal partner. Ormat’s lobbyist in Washington, Kai Anderson, and one of the company’s top executives, Paul Thomsen, are former aides to Reid.

Last month, again with Reid’s support, Ormat secured its own Energy Department loan guarantee, worth $350 million, to help support three other Nevada geothermal projects that are expected to produce 113 megawatts of power.

Reid has received some support from the geothermal industry, in the form of at least $43,000 worth of campaign contributions since 2009, according to an analysis of federal campaign finance records.

Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Reid, said the senator was proud of his work as an advocate for geothermal power and a broad array of other clean-energy projects in his state. But Jentleson, and the Energy Department spokesman, said Nevada Geothermal had not received, nor been offered, any special treatment.

“If projects like this did not contain a certain level of risk, alongside their enormous potential for creating jobs and generating clean energy, there would be no need for the bipartisan loan guarantee program,” Jentleson said.

An Obama administration official also pointed out that the Nevada Geothermal project won the enthusiastic support of prominent Republicans in the state, and of the Bush administration.

When Nevada Geothermal was finishing construction on its plant in late 2009, there was ample reason for optimism. Boiling waters are not far from the surface at the remote site, three hours outside Reno. The company had a 20-year contract to deliver power to the state’s largest electric utility company.

But even before it applied for the Obama administration incentives, problems at the plant cropped up. Company executives have variously predicted the plant could generate as much as 45 megawatts, after accounting for energy needed to power it.

Yet when the plant started up in October 2009, only 27 megawatts of net power were initially generated from the hot water pumped from the earth. That was not enough for the company to honor its commitment to the electric utility company, or to pay back a $91 million loan — carrying 14 percent interest — that it has with a Washington-based investment firm.

By drilling new wells to produce more steam at Blue Mountain, the company has been able to get the net power output up to a steady 35 megawatts. But, as the annual report released in late September reiterated, that was still not enough production to cover the company’s loans and operating costs.

Geothermal projects in general have encountered complications in recent years. They are a much riskier enterprise than solar panels or wind turbines, because the drilling can take several years and the power output is not guaranteed until the work is complete.

That explains why in recent months, shares of geothermal companies have collapsed, dropping far more than the shares of most renewable-energy businesses. Nevada Geothermal has traded lately for 10 cents a share or less, down from $1.24 when its plant opened in 2009.

Obama administration officials knew about most of these difficulties before the Energy Department agreed in September 2010 to partly guarantee a second major loan to Nevada Geothermal, worth $98.5 million.

Nevada Geothermal executives, meanwhile, are working to renegotiate the company’s $91 million, high-interest loan to avoid a default, which could come as soon as December. They have teamed up with Ormat to drill at a new Nevada site, and hope perhaps to do future drilling at the Blue Mountain site to increase the energy output there.

Wed Jun 8, 2011
ACQUIRES ICELAND AMERICA ENERGY, INC. PROJECT ASSETS IN IMPERIAL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

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Vancouver, B.C. (June 8, 2011), Nevada Geothermal Power Inc. (NGP) (TSX.V: NGP, OTCBB: NGLPF) and Iceland America Energy, Inc. (IAE) are pleased to announce that they have closed an agreement (News Release dated February 23, 2011) whereby NGP has purchased a 100 percent ownership of IAE's geothermal assets comprised of the New Truckhaven, East Brawley and South Brawley Projects in the Imperial Valley, Southern California for a payment of US$680,000 in cash (US$564,000 paid) and 6,074,069 shares (to be issued). Reykjavik Energy Invest hf (REI), a subsidiary of Reykjavik Energy (RE-Orkuveita Reykjavikur, Iceland), is the majority owner of IAE with an 83.7% interest and will become a significant shareholder of NGP.

The acquisition of these strong project assets in California is in keeping with NGP's business plan of focusing on U.S. geothermal power development, expanding geographically into higher temperature resource areas and diversifying off-take agreements. The alignment of interest with REI as a shareholder, and RE-Orkuveita Reykjavikur, an experienced geothermal developer and power plant operator, provides opportunities for cooperation in the future for mutual benefit.

The Imperial Valley is one of the world's premier geothermal areas with highly productive, high temperature geothermal resources occurring over a large area in an active structural belt. Existing power plants at four sites have an aggregate capacity of approximately 560 MW, however the development potential of the Valley is considered to be much greater. California has the most aggressive Renewable Portfolio Standard of any US State and requires significantly more clean power to be developed in the next six years. The Company's newly acquired projects are well located to supply the large southern California market with needed clean, renewable, base-load geothermal power.

New Truckhaven

NGP holds 6267 acres (approximately 10 square miles) of Federal and private geothermal leases in the Truckhaven area. The Company believes that a possible resource of 60 MW (gross) can be ascribed to the newly acquired leases.

NGP will employ its experienced resource and development team, augmented by expertise available from Reykjavik Energy Invest hf and RE-Orkuveita Reykjavikur, to develop plans for the development of a 30-50 MW geothermal power plant. Work will commence immediately on confirmation/development drilling permits, water requirements, transmission line access, and power purchase agreements as part of an overall feasibility study.
At New Truckhaven, a high-temperature geothermal resource is confirmed in a test well drilled to 8000 feet by Philips Petroleum in 1982. Phillips targeted deep production from fractured zones in granitic basement rocks in the lowermost part of the well (below 6300 feet). NGP plans to re-complete the well as a potential producer by sidetracking a new leg through locally permeable sedimentary units intersected between 3900-6300 feet with stabilized measured well temperatures of approximately 375°F (190°C). Production wells with brine temperatures similar to temperatures measured in the Phillips well have the potential to produce up to 9 MW (gross).
A recent well by Iceland America penetrated sedimentary units to 6400 feet and granite basement from 6400 feet to total well depth of 7140 feet. Target sandy sedimentary units were intersected between 1900-3300 feet and 5150-6400 feet. The maximum well temperature, recorded at the bottom of the well, was 350°F (177°C). It is considered that the IAE well is on the margin of the reservoir and would be suitable as an injection well.
The New Truckhaven reservoir fluid sampled by Philips and Iceland America during flow tests indicated benign fluid chemistry with relatively low Total Dissolved Solid content (TDS = 3900 ppm) requiring no extraordinary treatment for plant operations. The geochemistry of geothermal fluid from the Phillips well tests predicts source temperatures of 380-396°F (193-202°C) in good agreement with measured temperatures.

East Brawley

At East Brawley, leases controlled by NGP total 6752 acres (approximately 10.5 square miles). Development potential is indicated by several abandoned deep wells located within the East Brawley thermal anomaly, including wells on leases controlled by NGP, reporting high-salinity brine with temperatures between 500-580°F (260-304°C) at depths below 11,000 feet. Ram Power's recent Orita project drilling is immediately north of NGP's leases.

In 2011, NGP will commence work for well permits and complete geothermal reservoir and power plant scoping studies.

South Brawley

NGP has acquired a 50% leasehold on 1920 gross acres (three square miles) in the South Brawley Geothermal Area. NGP is evaluating next steps and further leasing opportunities.

Brian Fairbank, President and CEO of Nevada Geothermal Power commented, "I would like to thank Iceland America and Reykjavik Energy Invest for persevering in order to get this deal done. I believe that NGP and our Iceland-based partners will benefit immensely from the synergies created by the agreement. We are excited to move these projects forward, building renewed value for shareholders."

MDB Capital Group, LLC acted as independent advisor to IAE in the transaction.

Blue Mountain Update

NGP continues to work with its resource consultant, GeothermEx Inc., and its lenders to develop an up-to-date outlook for power production at its Blue Mountain project. It is possible that power production will be less than the previously disclosed outlook of 35 MW and declining at 2.5% per year. In the event that the new model requires a significant reduction of production output, the Company's ability to service debt and comply with the power purchase agreement may be compromised.

About Reykjavik Energy Invest hf:
Reykjavik Energy (RE-Orkuveita Reykjavikur) is a world leading authority in the utilization of geothermal energy. Reykjavik Energy Invest hf (REI) is Reykjavik Energy's international business development arm. RE operates two CHP geothermal power plants in Iceland, Nesjavellir and Hellisheidi. Their combined current output is 333 MW of electricity and 430 MW of thermal energy for space heating. The Nesjavellir power plant has been in operation since 1990 with 120 MW of electricity installed in 1996. In 2006 the first 90 MW were installed in Hellisheidi, 33 MW in 2007, 90 MW in 2008, 133 MW of thermal energy were added late 2010 and further 90 MW are planned to be installed in the fall of 2011 increasing the total output of geothermal electricity from the Hellisheidi plant to 303 MW. Iceland America Energy, Inc. was formed in 2004 to acquire and develop geothermal resources in North America.

About Nevada Geothermal Power Inc.:
Nevada Geothermal Power Inc. operates the 49.5 MW Faulkner 1 geothermal plant in Nevada. It is a growing, renewable energy developer focused on producing clean, efficient and sustainable geothermal electric power from high temperature geothermal resources in the United States. NGP currently owns leasehold interests in five properties: Blue Mountain, Pumpernickel Valley, Edna Mountain, North Valley in Nevada, and Crump Geyser, in Oregon. These properties are at different levels of exploration and development. NGP estimates a potential of between 150 MW and 300 MW from its current leaseholds.

Nevada Geothermal Power Inc.
Brian D. Fairbank, P. Eng.
President & CEO
http://www.nevadageothermal.com

Investor Inquiries:
Paul Mitchell
Nevada Geothermal Power Inc.
Telephone: 604-688-1553 X118
Direct Line: 604-638-8784
Toll Free: 866-688-0808 X118
Email: pmitchell@nevadageothermal.com

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