The event, which runs through noon on Wednesday, provides a unique opportunity for exhibitors to showcase their projects, equipment, services and state of the art technology to the geothermal community.

San Diego, CA (October 23, 2011) – Tonight, the GEA Geothermal Energy 2011 Expo Hall opens with a reception that will convene geothermal business leaders in San Diego for the largest gathering of businesses involved in geothermal resource exploration, characterization, development, production and management. The event, which runs through noon on Wednesday, provides a unique opportunity for exhibitors to showcase their projects, equipment, services and state of the art technology to the geothermal community.

Released in conjunction with the Expo, a new report from GEA finds that if California were a separate country, it would be the world leader in geothermal power production, with more than 2,500 MW of installed geothermal capacity. Southern California alone would rank fifth in installed geothermal capacity behind Mexico (958 MW), and ahead of Italy (843 MW). Millions more California homes and businesses could have their energy needs met through the geothermal energy that is waiting to be tapped in Southern California.

This year the GEA Geothermal Energy Expo hosts over 160 global businesses from around the globe. More than 4,000 attendees are expected to walk the sold out Expo floor. The general public can visit the Expo Hall for a $50 registration fee per day, and student registration is complimentary with valid student ID.

GEA Expo Hall highlights include:
· Ormat Technologies, Inc. (Booth #204): Ormat projects include locations in Heber, Calif. The company won the GEA Honors award in Economic Development for substantial contribution to the development of local, regional and national markets through the development of geothermal systems in Nevada. Ormat is a vertically integrated company primarily engaged in the geothermal and Recovered Energy Generation (REG) power business. Ormat has constructed over 1,200 MW of geothermal and REG power projects worldwide and owns and operates over 515 MW of geothermal and REG plants in the United States.
· Fuji Electric (Booth #413): Supplies turbines for EnergySource's Hudson Ranch and CalEnergy projects, both in Southern California; Fuji Electric is a globally renowned manufacturer of steam turbines and generator and EPC contractor. The company has delivered over 2,500 MW of geothermal projects worldwide.
· Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas (Booth #313): Supplies CalEnergy with turbines; Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas provides gas turbine, steam turbine & generator outage, repair, maintenance services and precision engineered parts.
· ThermaSource, LLC (Booth #504): Supplies CalEnergy; ThermaSource is a leader in the geothermal drilling industry. ThermaSource has simplified drilling logistics for the developer by offering rigs, trained crews, drilling engineers, cementing, mud logging, drilling fluids supply and exploration services. ThermaSource established in 1980 is based in Santa Rosa, Calif.
· Siemens (Booth #618): Siemens provides total plant solutions for the Geothermal Industry. The company offers proven technology for power generation and distribution systems, including steam turbines for geothermal power plants.
· TAS Energy Inc. (Booth #210): TAS Energy Inc. was awarded the GEA Honors Technological Advancement award for its development of new high-efficiency binary expanders, which have substantiated the commercial viability and utility use of low-temperature resources.
· Schlumberger (Booth #105): Booth features geothermal equipment such as drill bits. Schlumberger provides the technology and expertise to accurately characterize reservoirs for geothermal energy production.



In 2010, geothermal energy provided approximately 42 percent of California's commercial in-state renewable electricity generation. In addition to its large potential capacity, geothermal energy offers advantages over other forms of energy. It is ideally suited to provide baseload (24/7) power that intermittent renewable resources cannot provide. Additionally, when compared to other forms of baseload thermal generation, geothermal offers major advantages in fuel price stability, since it does not require a fuel supply, significantly reduces air emissions, and has a smaller footprint per installed MW.



The GEA report also reviews transmission, research and development, and geothermal technologies. The complete report can be accessed at www.geo-energy.org.

The complete exhibitor list is available at http://www.geothermalenergy2011.com/exhibitors.asp. The GEA is also on Twitter @geoenergist. Please join the conversation with the Twitter tag #GEAExpo. For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Shawna Seldon at the Rosen Group, 917 971 7852 or shawna@rosengrouppr.com.



About the Geothermal Energy Association:
The Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) is a trade association composed of U.S. companies who support the expanded use of geothermal energy and are developing geothermal resources worldwide for electrical power generation and direct-heat uses. GEA advocates for public policies that will promote the development and utilization of geothermal resources, provides a forum for the industry to discuss issues and problems, encourages research and development to improve geothermal technologies, presents industry views to governmental organizations, provides assistance for the export of geothermal goods and services, compiles statistical data about the geothermal industry, and conducts education and outreach projects. For more information, please visit http://www.geo-energy.org/. Follow GEA on Twitter. Become a fan on Facebook.