The Lightning Dock Geothermal power plant, originally commissioned in 2013, completed the six-month construction of a new plant and celebrated the repowering with an event in Animas, NM, attended by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Ron Darnell, Senior Vice President of PNM Resources.
The plant now outputs over 10 MW of electricity onto the grid, enough to power over 10,000 homes in New Mexico with the 100% renewable energy, through a Power Purchase Agreement with PNM.
“We are thrilled to have completed the repowering of this facility and built a remarkable new plant by Turboden on the site,” said Nick Goodman, CEO of Cyrq Energy. “This investment shows our commitment to New Mexico customers and demonstrates the viability of geothermal plants in rural areas.”
Further, Cyrq Energy named the new plant after geothermal pioneer Bruce Levy, whose accomplishments included work on the New Mexico site. Levy, who died last year, loved the Valley in which the project was sited in New Mexico and will be sorely missed by all in the industry that had the pleasure of working with him.
[Bruce Levy received a posthumous Geothermal Special Achievement Award in this year's GRC Awards]
“Bruce Levy was a true champion of geothermal energy and naming this plant after him is a tribute to his pioneering vision and brilliant work in development of resources,” said Goodman.
Governor Lujan Grisham attended the celebration of the expansion and toured the new plant, even walking up to the top of the structure, standing alongside the spinning blades that air-cool the process.
“New Mexico is taking its place as a leader in renewable energy, and Cyrq Energy’s geothermal plant is a big part of our effort,” said Gov. Lujan Grisham. “I applaud Cyrq’s investment in rural New Mexico.”
PNM has made a strong commitment statewide to providing more renewable energy.
“We look forward to many years of providing 100% renewable, baseload energy to our customers from geothermal energy,” said Darnell.
