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CENTRAL
AMERICA: NICARAGUA |
ThermaSource Wins Drilling Contract In
Nicaragua
By STEVE HART, THE
PRESS DEMOCRAT
Santa Rosa geothermal company ThermaSource
Inc. said Tuesday it won a contract to drill
new wells at a growing geothermal energy
complex in Nicaragua.
It’s the company’s first deal in the Central
American country, which has a large untapped
thermal resource, according energy analysts.
ThermaSource also is working in other Latin
American locations, company spokesman
Patrick Hanson said.
“It’s a new hot spot for geothermal,” he
said.
ThermaSource has about 190 employees
worldwide, including 45 at its Santa Rosa
headquarters.
Under the contract, ThermaSource will drill
two production wells and multiple injection
wells at the San Jacinto-Tizate Project near
the city of Leon.
The Santa Rosa company was awarded the
contract by Polaris Energy Nicaragua S.A., a
subsidiary of Reno-based Ram Power Corp.
Polaris has a 10-megawatt geothermal power
plant at the Nicaragua site that it is
expanding to generate 72 megawatts by the
end of 2011. The electricity is sold to
Nicaraguan utilities.
The drilling contract with ThermaSource
“represents a major milestone in the
completion of the San Jacinto-Tizate
expansion,” said Stuart Johnson, a Ram Power
vice president. “We believe that Nicaragua
is quickly becoming one of the leading
Central American countries developing
geothermal power.”
The companies didn’t disclose the value of
the deal.
Under terms of the deal, a ThermaSource
subsidiary, Tecton Geologic, will provide
drilling records for the project.
ThermaSource will add several staff members
for the project and hire about 50 workers in
Nicaragua, Hanson said. The project is
expected to last about 14 months.
The company was founded in Santa Rosa in
1980 by Louis Capuano, who still serves at
its CEO. ThermaSource is active at The
Geysers in Sonoma and Lake counties, where
it is currently working for Calpine and the
Northern California Power Agency.
It is also working at geothermal sites in
Southern California, Oregon, Chile, Turkey
and the Caribbean.
In addition to drilling services, the
company provides geothermal engineering,
supplies and consulting.
ThermaSource is majority owned by trio of
private equity funds, U.S. Renewables Group,
Riverstone Holdings and Rustic Canyon
Partners. |
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