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State’s first utility-scale geothermal plant heats up
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The state’s first geothermal plant doesn’t look like a power plant.
Really, it’s just a bunch of pipes sticking out of the ground, a few giant fans and some radiators. But it will produce enough electricity to power 4,000 to 5,000 homes, using the heat that comes out of the desert.
The new plant is the beginning for what Cyrq Energy CEO Nick Goodman hopes to see in New Mexico. The Cyrq Energy Geothermal Plant in Animas opened Wednesday. It’s the first utility-scale geothermal plant in New Mexico, officials said. The $100 million investment will, Goodman said, hopefully pave the way for more geothermal generation in the state.
“There’s a fairly long history of hot springs in New Mexico, and there are others that have used the same resources we’ve used,” he said. “But this is the first of its kind in New Mexico.”
The system works in a similar way to your car’s air conditioning system, in reverse.
“We keep it in a closed loop. The ground water is above the boiling point. We extract the heat from a heat exchanger, a standard heat exchanger, like you might have with your home’s boiler, and we use that heat to heat up a working fluid, and in our case, it’s a refrigerant, and that’s what drives the turbine,” Goodman said.
Though the process is a bit more expensive, unlike wind or solar, it provides constant electricity. The plant will also help utility PNM meet state power diversity rules, which require it to provide a mix of juice from wind, solar and geothermal sources.
Goodman said the plant is not just an investment, but a way to show that New Mexico has the geology to support more plants like this.
“We’re looking at opportunities in southeast New Mexico, and some other companies in our industry are looking there as well,” Goodman said. “We’re eyeing other projects in land in the northwest part of the state, and we’re leading the way with the first plant, and as the state gets better, it should be easier to do more.”
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