News
Oct 15, 2009Polaris and Western Geothermal acquired by and change name to “Ram Power Corp.”
CanGEA members, Ram Power and Western GeoPower discussed through Marketwire:
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA—(Marketwire - Oct. 15, 2009) -
GTO Resources Inc. (“GTO”) (NEX BOARD:GTR.H), Polaris Geothermal Inc. (“Polaris”) (TSX: GEO) and Western GeoPower Corp. (“Western”) (TSX VENTURE:WGP) (FRANKFURT:WE6) are pleased to announce that their respective securityholders have approved the previously announced plan of arrangement involving GTO, Polaris and Western under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the “Arrangement”). The Arrangement received strong support from the securityholders of each of GTO, Polaris and Western. At GTO’s meeting, the Arrangement was approved by approximately 99.9% of the shareholders of GTO. At Polaris’ meeting, the Arrangement was approved by approximately 99.9% of the common shareholders, preferred shareholders and optionholders of Polaris, voting together as a single class; approximately 99.9% of the preferred shareholders, common shareholders, warrantholders and debentureholders, each voting as a separate class; and approximately 99.9% of the common shareholders, voting as a single class (after excluding votes held by “interested parties” in accordance with Multilateral Instrument 61-101). At Western’s meeting, the Arrangement was approved by approximately 99.8% of Western shareholders and optionholders voting together as a single class, 99.8% of Western shareholders voting alone (99.8% after excluding votes held by “interested parties” in accordance with Multilateral Instrument 61-101) and 100% of Western’s warrantholders eligible to vote.
Pursuant to the Arrangement, GTO will acquire all of the issued and outstanding securities of Polaris and Western and will change its name to “Ram Power, Corp.” (“New GTO”). Concurrent with the closing of the Arrangement, GTO will acquire (the “Ram Acquisition”) issued and outstanding shares of Ram Power, Inc. (“Ram”). Upon completion of the Arrangement and the Ram Acquisition, New GTO will be engaged in the business of acquiring, exploring, developing and operating geothermal properties through its subsidiaries and will have an interest in geothermal projects primarily in California, Nicaragua and Nevada.
The Arrangement requires approval by the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The hearing in respect of the final order to approve the Arrangement (the “Final Order”) is currently scheduled to take place on October 19, 2009 at 9:45 a.m. (Vancouver time). If the Final Order is obtained on October 19, 2009, and all other conditions to completion of the Arrangement and the Ram Acquisition are satisfied or waived, it is expected that the Arrangement and the Ram Acquisition will be completed on October 20, 2009. In addition, it is expected that the common shares in the capital of New GTO will commence trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX”) on October 20, 2009 under the stock symbol “RPG” and the shares of GTO, Western and Polaris will be delisted from NEX, the TSX Venture Exchange and the TSX, respectively.
For further details regarding the Arrangement and the Ram Acquisition, please refer to the joint management information circular of GTO, Polaris and Western dated September 18, 2009, a copy of which is available under the corporate profiles of each of the corporations on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval at http://www.sedar.com.
Additionally, effective October 9, 2009, holders of the $27,000,000 principal amount of outstanding Polaris debentures agreed to extend the maturity date of the debentures in order to facilitate the proposed Arrangement. Polaris has also issued a total of 675,000 Class A voting common shares pursuant to the exercise of rights previously issued in a private placement of units which was completed on April 11, 2008. Details of the private placement can be found in the Polaris’ press release of April 14, 2008.
About Ram
Ram is a renewable energy development company with several geothermal projects under development in California and Nevada. Ram’s management team brings world class expertise and decades of experience in developing and financing geothermal energy projects.
About Western
Western is a Canadian renewable energy company (incorporated under the laws of British Columbia) dedicated to the development of geothermal energy projects for the delivery of clean, sustainable, baseload electricity generation. Western is developing the Western GeoPower Unit 1 geothermal power plant at the Geysers Geothermal Field in Sonoma County, California and has geothermal projects in California and British Columbia.
All references to “$” or “dollars” in this press release are to Canadian dollars.
Cautionary Statements
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to United States Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
This press release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to the Arrangement and the Ram Acquisition, including information regarding the anticipated date for the Final Order, the anticipated date for the closing of the Arrangement and the Ram Acquisition, the anticipated date the shares of New GTO are expected to commence trading on the TSX and the shares of GTO, Polaris and Western are to be delisted and statements with respect to the business expected to be carried on by New GTO. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by this information depending on, among other things, the risks that the parties will not proceed with the Arrangement and the Ram Acquisition, that the ultimate terms of the Arrangement and the Ram Acquisition will differ from those that currently are contemplated and that the Arrangement and the Ram Acquisition will not be successfully completed for any reason (including the failure to obtain the required approvals or clearances from regulatory authorities). The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release. GTO, Polaris and Western undertake no obligation to update forward looking information, other than as required by law, or comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third-parties in respect of GTO, Polaris or Western or their respective financial or operating results or (as applicable), their securities.
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Oct 14, 2009
Sierra Geothermal Power listed as one of Canada’s Top Geothermal Players
CanGEA member, Sierra Geothermal Power, makes the list of the companies having beat overall stock market indices this year on Canadian Stock Indices.
An explorer and developer of geothermal power, Sierra Geothermal Power Corp.‘s market value increased 185% to $23 million.
About Sierra Geothermal Power Corp.
Sierra Geothermal Power Corp. (SGP) is a Vancouver-based renewable energy company focused on the exploration and development of clean, sustainable geothermal power. It is listed on the TSX Venture exchange under the symbol SRA. With over 365km2 (90,000 acres) of geothermal properties in Nevada and California, SGP’s projects have a combined total estimated capacity of 500MW. SGP intends to finance development of its portfolio of projects by utilizing a combination of corporate equity, joint venture partnerships and project debt, with the support of US government grants and loan guarantees.
http://www.sierrageopower.com/
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Oct 11, 2009
CanGEA Says Goodbye to Gord
Gordon Foo, CanGEA’s Executive Assistant, has completed his internship with CanGEA. We would like to thank him for his contributions over the past 9 months, as CanGEA would not have done as well without his efforts. Drew has taken over responsibilities as Membership Coordinator, and he can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Best of luck to Gord in his future endeavours!
Oct 10, 2009
Borealis’ Dan Yang on Geothermal Reporting and Reserves Committee
The Geothermal Reporting and Reserves Committee (the Committee), sponsored by the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association (CanGEA), was established in December 2008 to develop a code for public reporting of geothermal resources and reserves. The code was developed for the overall industry and will serve to increase investor confidence and consistency of public reporting within the industry.
CanGEA’s sister organization, AGEA (Australian Geothermal Energy Association) recently collaborated with the Australian Geothermal Energy Group to jointly produce a methodology for estimation, quantification of geothermal resources and reserves. The resulting document, The Geothermal Reporting Code (2008 Edition) was the world’s first Code for public reporting of geothermal data. Key elements of the Australian Code have been adopted and/or formed the basis of the Canadian Code.
The Canadian Code (currently in its’ initial draft) will provide a basis for transparency, consistency and confidence in public reporting of geothermal information with the following primary objectives:
1. Provide a reporting basis that is satisfactory to investors, shareholders and capital markets such as the Canadian Securities Exchanges, in a similar manner that existing Canadian Codes provide for reporting of mineral and petroleum resources (National Instruments 43- 101 and 51-101, respectively).
2. Be applicable to geothermal plays in both Canada and internationally since the Canadian Securities Markets are utilized for the exploration and development of both local and international geothermal plays for companies based in Canada and other jurisdictions.
Although the Draft Code is a work in progress and will stay in draft form during its initial implementation, Dr. Daniel Yang & Borealis Geopower are pleased to be part of such visionary project for geothermal development in Canada and internationally. A special thanks goes out to Committee Chair Lee Deibert with Meridian Environmental and the rest of the committee members, including Subir Sanyal (Geothermex Inc.), Alison Thompson (CanGEA), Ian McDonald (Nexen Inc.), John McIlveen (Jacob & Company Securities Inc.) for all their time and energies to make this project a reality.
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Oct 09, 2009
CanGEA Members named “Best in Show” at GRC Conference!
CanGEA members, Islandsbanki and Thermasource, won “Best in Show” for their booths at the GEA (Geothermal Energy Association) trade-show in Reno this week. Congratulations!
Oct 09, 2009
GRC Geothermal Conference in Reno Last Week - Big Success!
The US Geothermal industry held its annual conference in Reno earlier this week and drew a record number of participants. With the back-drop of over $300 million in successful equity financings in geothermal in the past six months, the general sentiment was very positive on substantial growth for the sector going forward.
Alison Thompson, Chair and Executive Director of CanGEA, presented three times throughout the conference, once to a crowd of over 2000 people! She was given immediate positive feedback and CanGEA is very proud of her performance. We hope to attract more attention from the government in order to receive the go-ahead to start geothermal projects in Canada.
CanGEA hopes to gain enough funding so we can develop a Canadian Geothermal Technology Roadmap which will identify and describe in detail the complete development needs of the geothermal industry. Geothermal is an important renewable, base-load resource that should be receiving more of Canada’s attention. Once we can get Canada on the geothermal map, our greenhouse gas emissions will decrease, and our goals to combat global warming can be achieved.
Oct 08, 2009
Ormat’s Mammoth Pacific Geothermal Energy Plant Recieves Environmental Award
Mammoth Pacific geothermal power plant, operated and partially-owned by Ormat Technologies, Inc., received the California Department of Conservation’s Outstanding Lease Maintenance Award for its ongoing commitment to environmental safety and outstanding lease maintenance.
“The Department of Conservation recognizes those operators that continuously maintain their facilities in an environmentally sound and responsible way,” said Jack Truschel, Geothermal District Engineer at the Division of Oil, Gas, & Geothermal Resources. “It is therefore my pleasure to present Mammoth Pacific with its second consecutive outstanding lease award.”
“This environmental and safety award can be attributed to our employees at Mammoth Pacific, who work diligently to meet the highest standards of safety while also protecting the environment,” said Lucien Bronicki, Chairman and CTO of Ormat. “Ormat has always taken health, safety and environmental protection very seriously. We are proud that Mammoth Pacific, and the team led by plant manager Larry Nickerson, continues to exemplify quality and environmental consciousness in geothermal power production.”
Located in Mammoth Lakes, California, Mammoth Pacific, LP generates 29 MW of renewable, environmentally sound electricity sufficient for the needs of more than 20,000 homes. The facility, a partnership between Ormat and Constellation Energy, helps reduce our nation’s dependence on fossil fuels and play an important role in the local economy.
Ormat has constructed over 1,200 MW of geothermal and Recovered Energy Generation (REG) power projects worldwide and owns and operates over 515 MW of geothermal and REG plants in the United States.
About Ormat Technologies
Ormat Technologies, Inc. is the only vertically-integrated company primarily engaged in the geothermal and recovered energy power business. The Company designs, develops, owns and operates geothermal and recovered energy-based power plants around the world. Additionally, the Company designs, manufactures and sells geothermal and recovered energy power units and other power-generating equipment, and provides related services. The Company has more than four decades of experience in the development of environmentally-sound power, primarily in geothermal and recovered-energy generation. Ormat products and systems are covered by 75 U.S. patents. Ormat has built over 1,200 MW of plants approximately half for its own account and half as supplies to utilities and developers. Ormat current generating portfolio includes the following geothermal and recovered energy-based power plants: in the United States – Brady, Desert Peak 2, Heber, Mammoth, Ormesa, Puna, Steamboat, OREG 1, OREG 2 and Peetz; in Guatemala – Zunil and Amatitlan; in Kenya – Olkaria; in Nicaragua – Momotombo and in New Zealand – GDL
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Oct 08, 2009
Geysir Green Energy sells its shares in Western GeoPower
Geysir Green Energy has divested its holding in CanGEA member, Western GeoPower Corp. and sold its shares for $0.18 per share for an aggregate gross of CAD$8,520,000.
In a release earlier this week, Icelandic Geysir Green Energy tells that it “has divested its holding in Western GeoPower Corp. (TSX VENTURE:WGP).
In the transaction, Geysir Green Energy divested its entire holding, a total of 16.0 percent stake in Western GeoPower Corp of 47,333,334 shares at a price of CAD$0.18 per share for aggregate gross of CAD$8,520,000. The proceeds from the sale of the shares will be used to develop Geysir’s projects in other markets and debt repayment of the Geysir organization. The sale of the share is a part of the company’s objective to focus its efforts on increasing installed capacity in operating geothermal power and heating plants in Iceland and China.”
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Oct 07, 2009
Churchill County: A hot spot for geothermal
A wealth of geothermal resources and ready power transmission lines makes Churchill County one of the state’s hottest areas for geothermal power development - and provides a financial windfall to the county as well.
Several companies already have established geothermal resources some 60 miles east of Carson City in Churchill County:
- Ormat Technologies operates the Brady Complex and Desert Peak plants, which generate about 22 megawatts.
- Magma Energy is working on an $18.2 million plan to double the capacity of its 11-megawatt Soda Lake operation to 23 megawatts. Completion is targeted for early 2010.
Ormat plans an additional facility in the Salt Wells area. The Carson Lake project is estimated between 18 and 30 megawatts and could be online by 2011, says Paul Thomsen, director for policy and business development for Ormat Technologies.
“Geothermal starts in the last few years have added millions of dollar to our economy, added hundreds of jobs and kept Churchill County in the black,” says County Manager Brad Goetsch.
Goetsch says the county uses less than 10 percent of the geothermal power it generates and has tapped less than 5 percent of the region’s potential. The geothermal industry expects to spend close to $2 billion in exploration in Churchill County in next five to six years, Goetsch says.
“We are talking in the millions to tens of millions of dollars coming in tax revenues if geothermal continues to develop,” he says. “Geothermal has a bright future, and renewables are truly a way to diversify and replace what’s been lost in construction and gaming.”
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Oct 07, 2009US Geothermal Capacity to Increase Threefold as Industry Heats Up
The Geothermal Energy Association released their US Geothermal Power Production and Development Update for September 2009.
The update reports how the US has increased its geothermal productivity substantially since 2006, where geothermal capacity was reported at 2,850MW. As of September, the US has now reached a geothermal capacity of 3,152MW with a further 6,442.9MW of new geothermal capacity currently under development. Unconfirmed projects, which may be developed in the next few years, could increase that new capacity to 7,109.9MW.
Question: How much geothermal development has Canada achieved?Answer: 0MW!!!
Please contact your local government official if you are disgraced by this number. CanGEA is doing all we can to help initiate geothermal (clean, renewable, BASE-LOAD power) development in Canada.
