Ormat Nevada’s Casa Diablo IV geothermal project in California is expected to create more than 180 construction jobs after approval by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. When complete, the planned 40-megawatt complex is expected to provide energy to power 36,000 homes.

"In approving the Casa Diablo geothermal project, BLM is helping advance California’s goal of the state generating one-third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, and to bring desirable jobs to the Eastern Sierra region," said BLM Bishop Field Office Manager Steve Nelson.

The project will be built near Mammoth Lakes, Calif., on Inyo National Forest land and on private land within four existing federal geothermal leases. The project involves up to 16 new production and injection wells, in addition to pipelines and an electric transmission line. In its determination on the project, BLM said production wells would range from 1,600 to 2,000 feet bgs and injection wells would be drilled to about 2,500 feet bgs. Production wells would have down-hole pumps powered by electric motors on the surface.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, attending the Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas, praised the project as an example of federal agencies working together with private energy developers, according to Associated Press reports.

Construction of the facility is expected to take 24 months in two phases beginning with well testing.

The Mammoth Community Water District expressed concern about the project’s impact on area groundwater. The BLM says current data indicates groundwater is isolated from the deeper areas planned for geothermal use, but the agency required a plan for ongoing monitoring.

Ormat will manage and build Casa Diablo IV through a wholly owned subsidiary, ORNI 50 LLC. Ormat has a long track record of developing geothermal energy resources, and recently brought online the first “enhanced” geothermal system plant [], Desert Peak 2, near Reno, Nev. For more information on Ormat, visit www.ormat.com.