Geothermal plant set for southwestern N.M.

None | The Associated Press

7/3/2008 -

LORDSBURG — A Utah-based company plans to build a geothermal-powered generating station in southwestern New Mexico to provide electricity for Arizona.

Raser Technologies Inc. of Provo said it will be the first commercial geothermal power plant in New Mexico.

The company, in a news release Wednesday, said the plant should generate 10 to 11 megawatts of electricity for about 5,500 homes in the Phoenix area. Raser has entered into a purchased power agreement with a Phoenix-area utility, the Salt River Project, to start delivering electricity in December.

Richard Clayton, executive vice president for Raser, said geothermal power from the plant will provide reliable energy "with zero emissions and the least intrusive impact to the environment."

The project's 2,500-acre site in Hidalgo County is a well-studied geothermal source that has been used by an area greenhouse operation for several years, the company said. The land is leased to Raser in conjunction with a Bureau of Land Management geothermal lease for the resource, Raser said.

The company has begun taking deliveries of geothermal power generating units made by United Technologies Co., and said the project, dubbed Lightning Dock, will use 50 of UTC's modular generating units.

Raser also said a UTC generation unit will be installed in the greenhouse facility in the next two weeks.

"This pilot installation will give UTC and Raser valuable early operational information during hot summer months, using the water from this specific geothermal resource," said Steve Brown, executive vice president of construction for Raser.

Raser is a publicly traded technology licensing and development company.