Idaho company seeks finances for geothermal plant in Utah

OGDEN — An Idaho company claims it has identified a geothermal resource in Box Elder County and plans to build $250 million geothermal energy plant — if it can get the financing.

The four-square-mile site east of Interstate 15 in Honeyville was identified by Renaissance Geothermal, owned jointly by Ida-Therm LLC of Rupert, Idaho, and Eureka Green Systems LLC of California.

The plant would be capable of producing 100 megawatts of electricity to serve more than 50,000 customers and would have an expected operating life of more than 100 years, said Carl Austin of Renaissance Geothermal.

However, Bob Blackett, a geologist with the Utah Geological Survey, said moderate- to high-temperature resources have been detected in the area cited by Renaissance but added that a site in Box Elder capable of generating 100 megawatts would be "highly speculative."

Geothermal sites in Utah rarely have been adequate for long-term electricity generation, and the only site in the state now functioning is a 26-megawatt PacifiCorp plant in Milford, Blackett said.

Austin, of Oakley, Idaho, said he discovered the Renaissance site in the early 1950s but kept it a secret because there was no available technology to harness it successfully at the time.

He re-examined the site in 1963 and drilled a test well in 1974 but felt there still wasn't a favorable market but now believes technology has caught up enough to build a plant.

Austin said Renaissance has leased land from property owners who would receive royalties from energy production and is seeking financial backing and wants to have the first of four wells running within the next two years.

"We are looking for major partners to help us put this into production," Austin said.