Mr. Raasch is an Executive Vice President and Co-Founder of GGE. Mr. Raasch is responsible for all of GGE’s “below ground” activities.

 

Mr. Raasch has 34 years of geothermal industry experience. He has led exploration and development programs and managed operating projects for Unocal, the Chilean national oil company (ENAP) and Mighty River Power. Mr. Raasch has headed exploration, development and operations of the largest geothermal efforts worldwide, including Tiwi (Philippines), MakBan (Philippines), Rotokawa (NZ), Kawerau (NZ), Salton Sea (U.S.) and The Geysers (U.S.).

 

Working with the Unocal Corporation (1975-2000), Mr. Raasch developed and improved the well drilling program that saved more than 30% on the cost of resource development. Mr. Raasch also developed and patented a novel approach to eliminating carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide emissions from wells idled during power plant overhauls. In the Philippines as the Manager of Operations, Mr. Raasch had full profit-loss responsibility for two of the largest geothermal fields in the world, Tiwi (330 MW) and MakBan (426 MW).

 

As Unocal’s General Manager of Latin America Business Development, Mr. Raasch in three years assembled a portfolio of geothermal prospects with a development potential exceeding 1,050 MW. The five countries included El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Chile. Mr. Raasch directed teams that acquired geothermal concessions, prepared environmental impact assessments and negotiated power purchase agreements. He also established and staffed regional offices in Managua, Nicaragua and Santiago, Chile.

 

In 2001, Mr. Raasch created Geotermia del Pacifico (GdP), the first sole-purpose geothermal company in Chile. For the first two years, GdP provided geothermal leadership, training and management to the Chilean National Oil Company, ENAP. GdP acquired seven geothermal concessions on behalf of ENAP, conducted detailed regional mapping and field-wide geochemical studies, and magnetotelluric geophysical surveys. In 2003, GdP began acquiring geothermal concessions for private development.

 

Mr. Raasch joined GGE from his position as General Manager, Geothermal, for Mighty River Power, one of four major electric utilities in New Zealand, a position he held from 2004 to 2008. In four years, he built and led a team of 28 professional staff and 36 power plant operators. He directed the exploration program that has drilled the largest geothermal well in New Zealand, and discovered more than 400 MW of geothermal reserves.

 

Mr. Raasch has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Metallurgy from University of California at Davis.