15 June 2010-- The Department of Energy (DOE) gave a conditional commitment to provide a partial guarantee for a $98.5 million loan to the Nevada Geothermal Power Co. (NGP) for a planned 49.5 MW geothermal project in Nevada.

John Hancock Financial Services will provide the loan to NGP for the Blue Mountain project. The project will consist of a geothermal well field, fluid collection and injection systems that enable energy to be extracted from rock and fluid below the Earth’s surface. The Nevada Power Co., a unit of NV Energy, signed a 20-year power purchase agreement to buy the electricity output from the project.

The loan is one of the first awarded under the Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP), where the DOE provides a guarantee for up to 80 percent of a loan provided to a renewable energy project by a financial institution.

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