By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Jan. 3 -- Puna Geothermal Venture, a subsidiary of ORMAT Technologies Inc., Sparks, Nev., plans to add 8 Mw of electricity generating capacity by the end of 2007 to its Puna geothermal project on the Big Island of Hawaii.
PGV, which operates a 30 Mw geothermal power plant at Pahoa, 21 miles south of Hilo, completed drilling two new geothermal wells to about 5,000 ft in the lower east rift zone of the Kilauea volcano. It completed a second stage refinancing on Dec. 30, 2005, bringing total project financing to $83 million.
The project provides about 20% of the island's electricity under an agreement with Hawaii Electric Light Co. ORMAT acquired the project in 2004 from Constellation Energy Group, Baltimore.