Economics of geothermal heating/cooling of Reno Industrial Park

In this paper the economics of the proposed geothermal district heating/cooling system for the newly developed 1200 acre Industrial Park in Reno is investigated. The district heating/cooling system with 30,000,000 square foot of floor space connected to geothermal appears to be feasible, and financially very attractive. With the drilling of new wells, the geothermal district heating system appears to be capable of meeting the entire space heating requirements of the park as well as the entire cooling needs of potential customers who are expected to use absorption cooling, generating potential revenues of $14,040,000 per year ($8,750,000 from heating and $5,290,000 from cooling). The planned 200-bed Washoe Acute Hospital and the 300-room Marriott hotel in the Industrial park has the potential to generate additional $392,500 per year at a discount of 30 percent.