BATTLE MOUNTAIN - The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Battle Mountain District recently issued a site license to Ormat Technologies, Inc. for the construction of their second power plant located on public lands at the McGinness Hills Geothermal Project, approximately 16 miles northeast of Austin, Nevada.
In 2011, Ormat was authorized to construct two geothermal power plants and completed the first in 2012. The second power plant, nearly identical to the first, is a binary air-cooled operation capable of producing approximately 45 megawatts. The previously analyzed surface disturbance totals about 16.5 acres and includes a substation used to transform generated low voltage to the higher voltage required for a transmission line. A 9-mile long, 230 kV overhead transmission line connects the site to the existing NV Energy Frontier substation.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2013, the BLM generated $4.7 billion in receipts from public lands.[[In-content Ad]]
