02 Jun Cadiz Inc. and Lucid Energy Inc. Enter Joint Venture to Provide Hydropower to Arizona & California Railroad
(Business Wire) Los Angeles, CA – The ARZC operates a shortline railroad that originates in Cadiz, California and runs to Matthie, Arizona near Phoenix. Due to the remote nature of sections of the ARZC route, the railroad desires cost-effective and routine access to power for its operations, including potential transloading at a siding location in Rice, California. Access to electric power for lighting, refrigeration and heating would allow for an expanded transloading operation at this location. By installing in-line power turbines in the Cadiz Water Project pipeline as proposed, the pipeline can generate low-cost, renewable energy and meet ARZC’s local business objectives.
“There are thousands of miles of gravity fed water pipelines across our country that could make use of our unique hydropower technology without harm to the environment,” said Gregg Semler, president and CEO of Lucid Energy. “LucidPipe generates baseload energy with no carbon emissions and no disruption to pipeline operations, providing clean, eco-friendly power in the truest sense of the word. We are excited to be able to collaborate with Cadiz in this green power venture.”
LucidPipe is a patented, in-pipe turbine generator that efficiently captures the energy of moving water inside large pipelines and converts it to a continuous source of low-cost electricity. Water passes through spherical, lift-based turbines and causes them to spin, generating electricity from the water flow and pressure head inside the pipe. Because the system operates inside of pipelines, it creates no environmental impacts and is not subject to intermittency issues caused by weather conditions. The LucidPipe turbines have been tested and certified by NSF International to NSF/ANSI Standard 61 for use in potable water systems. Only ministerial permitting will be required to incorporate these turbines in the Cadiz Water Project pipeline.
LucidPipe turbines have already been successfully deployed in the United States to generate power. In January 2015, a four-turbine, 200 kW LucidPipe Power System came online in Portland, Oregon. The system, which is installed in a Portland Water Bureau pipeline, will generate an average of 1,100 megawatt hours (MWh) of energy per year, enough electricity to power up to 150 homes. It had the distinction of being the first project in the U.S. to secure a 20-year power purchase agreement for in-pipe hydropower in a municipal water pipeline, paving the way for similar financing to be available to other municipalities around the country. Riverside Public Utilities in California was the site of Lucid Energy’s first commercial LucidPipe installation. The single 42” turbine system has operated continuously for three years.
About Lucid Energy
Founded in 2011, Lucid Energy, Inc. is a provider of renewable energy and smart water management solutions that improve the economics of delivering water. The company’s patented LucidPipe Power System enables industrial, municipal and agricultural facilities to generate clean, reliable, low-cost electricity from their gravity-fed water pipelines and effluent streams. A private company, Lucid Energy co-developed the technology with Northwest Pipe Company (NASDAQ: NWPX), the largest manufacturer of steel water transmission pipe in the U.S. For more information, visit www.lucidenergy.com.
About Cadiz Inc.
Founded in 1983, Cadiz Inc. is a land and water resource development company that owns 70 sq. miles of property and water rights in Southern California. The Company is engaged in a combination of organic farming and water supply and storage projects. Cadiz abides by a “Green Compact” focused on sustainable practices to manage its land, water and agricultural resources and has committed to implement its projects without harm to the environment. For more information about Cadiz, visit www.cadizinc.com.
About Arizona & California Railroad
The Arizona & California Railroad (ARZC) is a short line railroad that interchanges with the BNSF. The ARZC began operations between 1903 and 1907 by the Arizona & California Railway. By 1910, the line had stretched its reach to Cadiz, California. The ARZC operates 190 miles of main line track extending from its interchange with the BNSF in Cadiz and continues southeast across the Mojave Desert to Rice, California, then east to cross the Colorado River Arizona/California state line at Parker, Arizona. The railroad continues east to Matthie. The ARZC also has trackage rights into Phoenix on the BNSF Phoenix Branch. To learn more, visit http://www.gwrr.com/operations/railroads/north_america/arizona_california_railroad
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT: This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including statements related to the future operating and financial performance of the Company and the financing activities of the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those reflected in the Company’s forward-looking statements include Cadiz’s ability to maximize value for its land and water resources, Cadiz’s ability to obtain new financing as needed, the receipt of additional permits for its projects and other factors and considerations detailed in Cadiz’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings.