By Robert Campbell – US Army Corps of Engineers Digital Visual Library

The Port of Oakland’s Board of Port Commissioners has decided to purchase geothermal energy worth US$13.5 million for use at the seaport and airport starting January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2036, with an average price of US$1,125,000 per year.

Geysers Power Company’s facilities, situated near Middletown, will provide the geothermal energy. The Geysers, which include geothermal steam fields and the complex of geothermal power plants with thirteen facilities along the Sonoma and Lake County border, has a net generating capacity of about 725 MW of electricity sufficient to power 725,000 homes.

For the purpose of supplying the Port and its clients with energy, geothermal will make up around 10% of the Port’s entire energy portfolio annually.

“Operating an electric utility in California today is challenging with weather events, wildfires and droughts that impede availability of power,” said Port of Oakland Utilities Manager, Jared Carpenter. This contract is significant because it is a new energy deal for the Port of Oakland–not an extension of a previous deal–that helps enhance our power supply portfolio with another fully renewable natural resource.”

The Port of Oakland is among the nation’s top 10 for container ship intake and capacity. It handles close to 2,000 ship arrivals and more than two million 20-foot equivalent container units per year.

In southern California. the larger Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are undergoing a series of decarbonization projects ranging from fleet electrification to renewable diesel, hydrogen and LNG projects.