Legal issues of Geothermal Energy Development

Alexander Richter 11 Nis 2009

Having wanted to write about this excellent legal resource for anyone involved in geothermal development, I finally find the time to do so.

Stoel Rives LLP, a law firm with 12 offices across the Western United States, has made itself a name in the renewable energy world with focused work in this field. The firm has also published a number of reports on legal issues in renewable energy development, among them “Lava Law –  Legal Issues in Geothermal Energy Development“. This particular document looks into most legal issues a developer faces when developing a geothermal project. While naturally covering only U.S. law, it should still be a useful resource for any developer as some of the elements, e.g. in the contracting for construction, project finance and power purchase agreements are quite similar no matter where a project or developer is located.

The main points looked into are:

• Leasing, siting and permitting geothermal energy projects,
• Groundwater and related features of state regulation,
• Power purchase agreements and environmental attributes,
• Design, engineering, construction and turbine purchase agreements,
• Project finance for geothermal power projects,
• Tax issues, as well as
• Regulatory and transmission-related issues.

As the new stimulus bill of the U.S. will create some changes to the incentive system with the investment tax credits (ITC) and cash grant program of the U.S. Treasury, the report is still very useful and with annual updates, one can expect that any new legislative rules will find their way into this tremendously helpful document.

The firm’s lawyers also maintain a very resourceful renewable energy law blog, the “Law of Renewable Energy” that should be useful.

Link to ‘Lava Law – Legal issues in geothermal energy development’ of Stoel Rives LLP Law Firm