U.S. geothermal lease sale raises record $28.2 mln

By Jasmin Melvin

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Department said Friday it raised a record $28.2 million this week from leasing federal lands to companies for developing geothermal energy resources.

Geothermal energy, harnessed from steam and hot water beneath the earth that powers turbines, generates 17 percent of the electricity that comes from renewable sources in the United States.

In an auction on Tuesday, the department leased 105,211 acres in Nevada for geothermal energy use. Other states with geothermal activity are Oregon, Utah, Idaho and New Mexico.

Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne said in a release the sale "opens the way for even more geothermal development and is just one step in our continuing effort to responsibly use and develop clean, renewable energy."

The highest bid for a parcel came from Standard Steam Trust LLC, which paid $3.2 million for a 3,560-acre parcel, while Magma Energy US Corp paid $6.9 million for three parcels offered as a block at $585 per acre. A 2,707-acre parcel sold for $1,000 per acre to ENEL Geothermal LLC.

Half of the revenues will go to Nevada, while 25 percent goes to the counties where the leases are located and the remaining 25 percent goes to the Bureau of Land Management to help cover the cost of processing the leases.

Geothermal lease sales have brought in $57 million in bids for 245,695 acres leased under a competitive leasing provision in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. An additional 181,340 acres have been leased through 117 noncompetitive agreements through the Bureau of Land Management.

About 90 percent of potential U.S. geothermal resources are located on public lands.

(Editing by Walter Bagley)