GCube announces $175m geothermal construction insurance coverage
Hudson Ranch I, construction site at the Salton Sea, California - not connected to story (source: EnergySource)
Alexander Richter
17 Eyl 2012
Insurance underwriting agency announces having secured construction underwriting capacity of up to $175 million for the construction of geothermal energy plants.
Last week, GCube, an insurance underwriting agency based out of the U.S. and the UK, announced it has secured construction underwriting capacity of up to $175 million for the construction of geothermal energy plants, as well as for biomass development.
In the announcement the company describes this as a milestone given the dedicated and focused approach of the company on these two sectors. The new capacity agreement represents a significant investment in resources and capacity made by an insurer in the biomass and geothermal sectors of renewable energy.
In an interview with Fraser McLachlan, GCube’s Executive Officer, he told men that while the company sees the U.S. as a main market, it indeed sees itself as working and offering this insurance product globally.he company has experience with the geothermal sector and has insured the construction of two geothermal projects in the U.S. and while the company sees a focus on power generation projects (flash and dry steam, as well as binary cycle plants), it will also look into larger scale direct use projects.
The insurance coverage only covers insurance issues in the construction phase of the project. That involves everything from the start of procurement to about 12 months after the plant has gone online. Things the GeoPro insurance covers are: Cargo/ stock throughput, transit, all risks in constructions and operations, as well as liability. This includes loss of electricity sales, as well as effects to servicing debt due to an insured event within the coverage.
GCube sees developers as its main customer base and is flexible to adapt an insurance package to existing coverage, as e.g. through the vendor.
For new projects the company traditionally sees an insured amount of $100-150 million.
The company has a dedicated business manager for geothermal projects, which can be reached via the company’s GeoPro services website.
Source: GCube announcement, GCube GeoPro
