Renewable energy company focused on the development, production and sale of electricity from geothermal energy, U.S. Geothermal Inc. Has signed a Commitment Letter and Term Sheet with Geothermal Regional Center (GRC). GRC will provide up to a US15 million loan facility for its San Emidio geothermal project in Washoe County, Nevada.
A portion of the development of the San Emidio North (Units 3 and 4) power project will be funded by the loan facility, including the drilling of geothermal wells, related infrastructure and the other costs for development. The only USCIS approved Regional Center focused on the geothermal energy sector, GRC intends to raise the capital through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program, a program designed for foreign high net worth individuals who wish to obtain Permanent Residence status through commercial enterprise investments which are shown to have significant job creation benefits.
The San Emidio geothermal resource has been divided into two sub-resources, the South which is under current development and the North which is under planned development. Producing power since 1987, San Emidio South upgrade to triple the project’s output will soon be completed and Unit 2 is also being developed with a similar power plant module expected to produce 8.6MW by the end of 2013. The North project will add 17.2MW through the construction of Units 3 and 4, subject to the development of additional production wells, a power sales agreement and transmission access.