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The Department of the Interior announced Thursday that it has approved the 2GW Felvo Cape geothermal power project in Beaver County, Utah. Additionally, the Bureau of Land Management said it is proposing new exemptions from certain National Environmental Policy Act requirements to facilitate the discovery of geothermal resources.
On October 8, BLM announced that its Cedar City field office had concluded that there would be no significant impacts from the project and issued a decision to approve the project. The 30-day appeal period for this decision ends on November 7th.
The project, developed by Fervo Energy, covers approximately 631 acres, 148 of which are on public land, Interior said in a release. In September, Farbo Energy established its Cape Station project in southwestern Utah as the most productive enhanced geothermal project after well testing, using advanced drilling techniques adapted from the hydraulic fracturing industry. announced that it had achieved “record reservoir performance” in well tests. A historic power plant.
Proposed Beaver County construction includes “drilling an estimated 320 geothermal wells, stimulating wells, completing wells, testing wells, as well as constructing or improving leased access roads and sub-transmission lines. According to the BLM’s environmental assessment, this includes the construction and maintenance of electrical switchyards, general interconnection transmission lines, geothermal fluid pipeline collection systems, off-lease transmission corridors and associated maintenance roads.
The BLM’s proposed categorical exemption would streamline the permitting process by providing an exemption under NEPA for “geothermal resource verification project plans of up to 20 acres,” which currently requires two separate An environmental review is required to be completed.
“Today’s permit proposal will help accelerate the discovery of new geothermal resources across the West, especially in states like Nevada, which has some of the nation’s largest untapped geothermal potential,” Interior said. Ta.
The announcement “follows the October 8 BLM Nevada geothermal lease sale, which generated near-record revenue and was the most successful sale since 2008 and the second-largest sale in history,” Interior said. said.
The BLM sold 64 parcels of land, including approximately 218,000 acres, for a high bid of more than $7.8 million, a “significant increase from the previous year’s sale of 96,600 acres for just over $1 million. ,” Interior said.
