Maui to be part of search for geothermal power resources

ORMAT Nevada has won three U.S. Department of Energy contracts to use innovative methods to search for geothermal power resources, including one hunt to be done on Maui.

The three contracts are worth between $4 million and $5 million. The other searches will be in Wister, Calif., and Glass Buttes, Utah.

Geologists have long thought that the most likely geothermal resource on Maui would be the southwest rift zone of Haleakala, which is where the last outbreak of lava occurred about two centuries ago. Another likely spot is the east rift zone in Hana.

The search will be done by ORMAT's Hawaii subsidiary, Puna Geothermal Venture, which produces about 30 megawatts, or 20 percent, of the Big Island's electricity.

Mike Kaleikini, PGV's plant manager, said "there will be a lot of outreach" before any exploration starts.

He also said that modern techniques are largely "nonintrusive." For example, aerial magnetic surveys can detect anomalies. Gravity and soil resistivity tests also can give indications, although the final proof of a resource requires drilling.

Drilling is expensive, so narrowing down the search zone with cheaper methods is an advantage, Kaleikini said.

A 2005 study done for the Department of Business Economic Development & Tourism gave a tentative estimate of the resource at around 20 megawatts in the southwest and east rift zones, although both estimates had a wide margin of uncertainty.

Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced up to $338 million in Recovery Act funding Thursday for the exploration and development of new geothermal fields and research into advanced geothermal technologies. There will be 123 projects in 39 states.

The grants will be matched more than one-for-one with an additional $353 million in private and nonfederal cost-share funds.

Also on Thursday, Gov. Linda Lingle said that the state has issued a request for proposal from organizations to conduct an environmental impact statement for an undersea power cable to connect Lanai, Molokai, Oahu and Maui.

The power would come from wind farms on Lanai and perhaps Molokai and Maui as well for transmission to Oahu.

Chu said the studies and research are directed toward identifying and developing new geothermal fields and reducing the upfront risk associated with geothermal development through innovative exploration and drilling projects and data development and collection.

The heat from underground sources is used to boil a liquid to get steam to drive turbines.

Although geothermal does not produce carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases, it does generate wastewater, typically reinjected into the ground.

The Maui probe is one of 24 projects, worth $98 million, that will use new sensing, exploration and well-drilling technologies.