The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) awarded geothermal leases for 13 parcels of land across 22,685 public acres in two California counties to seven companies, according to the BLM, which added the lease sale generated more than $2.7 million in revenue for the federal government.

The geothermal leases are for parcels of land located in the California counties of Imperial and Modoc, and they generated an average of $117 per acre thereby producing a total of $2,711,858 in lease revenue, according to the BLM, which provides details on the lease sale at Federal Geothermal Lease Sale.

Of the seven companies that submitted winning bids for geothermal leases, Invenergy Geothermal Development LLC acquired five leases, the most of the companies that successfully bid on the geothermal leases. Invenergy Geothermal Development acquired geothermal leases for more than 7,000 acres in Imperial County ranging in price from $9 per acre; $13 per acre; $20 per acre; $21 per acre; and $227 per acre. Headquartered in Chicago, Invenergy Geothermal Development and its affiliated companies develop, build, own, and operate large-scale renewable and other clean energy generation, transmission, and storage facilities in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, according to the company.

The other companies that acquired geothermal leases; how many leases each obtained; information on each firm; and which counties the parcels of land are located in, as well as how much acreage each company acquired are:

• Chinati Minerals LLC, with headquarter offices listed in Houston; Midvale, Utah; and Wilmington, Del. additional ownership information is not publicly available. The firm acquired two leases both located in Imperial County that surpassed 5,500 acres paying from $205 per acre to $247 per acre.
  
  
• XGS Energy Inc. is a geothermal energy company based in Palo Alto, Calif. that uses a proprietary, water-independent heat harvesting technology to generate power from hot rock. XGS Energy acquired two leases both located in Imperial County that surpassed 2,200 acres paying from $17 per acre to $73 per acre.
  
  
• CIP Energy LLC—also known as Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners LLC—is a global fund manager focused on renewable energy investments. The company acquired a lease in Imperial County for more than 2,200 acres paying $2 per acre.
  
  
• Gallatin Power Partners, LLC, is based in Bozeman, Mont. Gallatin Power Partners is a developer of renewable energy projects, such as solar, energy storage, and transmission. The company acquired a lease in Imperial County for more than 916 acres paying $36 per acre.
  
  
• Ormat Nevada Inc. develops and operates renewable energy projects including geothermal, recovered energy, and energy management and storage solutions. Ormat acquired a lease in Modoc County for more than 240 acres paying $2 per acre.
  
  
• Oso Rojo, LLC is located in Bakersfield, Calif. and is associated with the independent energy and carbon management company California Resources Corp. In the BLM lease sale, Oso Rojo acquired a lease in Imperial County for more than 3,500 acres paying $201 per acre.

For each parcel leased, California will receive 50 percent of the bid, rental receipts, and subsequent royalties; 25 percent will go to the county where the lease is located; and the remaining while 25 percent will go to the federal government, according to the BLM.

Leasing is the first step in the process to develop federal geothermal resources, says the BLM, which adds geothermal development meets the requirements set forth by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

Furthermore, geothermal energy is an abundant resource, especially in the western U.S. where the BLM has authority to manage geothermal resource leasing, exploration, and development on approximately 245 million surface acres of public lands and the 700 million acres where the U.S. owns the subsurface mineral estate, according to the bureau.