News
Apr 01, 2010SGP Awarded Knight Inlet Geothermal Parcel
Vancouver, British Columbia - Sierra Geothermal Power Corp. [TSX-V: SRA] (“Sierra”) is pleased to announce that it was the successful bidder in the March 29, 2010, BC Government auction for Crown geothermal rights to an 8,079 hectare parcel of land in the Knight Inlet area of British Columbia. Most of this parcel is located within the Da’naxda’xw/Awaetlala Nation’s traditional territory, where Sierra has an exclusive right to explore for geothermal resources pursuant to a memorandum of understanding signed last year.
As the successful bidder at the auction, Sierra has received a one-year permit from the BC government granting it the exclusive right to explore for the Crown’s geothermal resources on the parcel covered by the permit. This permit may be renewed annually for up to eight years, after which it can be converted to a lease.
Gary Thompson, President and CEO of Sierra, said, “We are excited to have won the bid for the Knight Inlet lands. We believe that these lands have excellent potential for development of a geothermal resource given geothermometry results of 150 to 200 degrees Celsius. The geothermal rights from the Crown coupled with our earlier memorandum of understanding with the Da’naxda’xw/Awaetlala Nation provides the ideal combination to move a project forward. If we find a geothermal resource on this land that we can develop, we believe that we can provide a benefit to the residents of the region while bringing a clean and renewable form of power to BC’s electrical grid.”
About the Knight Inlet Project
In 2007 the Knight Inlet prospect was identified by Sierra as a prime area for exploration and possible development of a geothermal power plant. Significant transmission infrastructure (a dual 230 kV transmission interconnection) and improved road access are already under development with run of river power projects in the area.
A geothermal steam zone on the Knight Inlet site sampled by Sierra measured 82.5 degrees Celsius (third hottest spring in Canada) at surface and chemical geothermometry returned 150 to 200 degrees Celsius. Sierra conducted an assessment to determine geothermal energy potential throughout British Columbia during a flow-through expenditure program. Further studies and data analysis continued in 2008. In April 2009 Sierra signed a memorandum of understanding with the Da’naxda’xw/Awaetlala Nation for the exclusive right to develop geothermal projects on traditional lands, consisting of about 800,000 hectares (2 million acres) in the Knight Inlet Area of British Columbia. The potential benefits to the Da’naxda’xw/Awaetlala Nation could include employment opportunities through construction and operation of any generation facilities as well as financial support of educational and lodge resort development initiatives by way of a revenue sharing arrangement.
About Sierra Geothermal Power Corp.
Sierra is a Vancouver-based geothermal energy company focused on the exploration and development of clean, sustainable power in the Western North America. Sierra has 100% control over its portfolio of geothermal properties in Nevada, California and British Columbia. Sierra’s projects have a combined total estimated capacity of almost 400MW. One megawatt (MW) is enough to power 800 homes. http://www.sierrageopower.com
