EnergySource’s New Geothermal Plant Is Online Near the Salton Sea

By Herman K. Trabish | Greentech Media | Link to article

The region may be the best resource—and best-kept secret—in the geothermal sector.

The EnergySource 49.9-megawatt Hudson Ranch I geothermal plant went on-line in the Salton Sea geothermal field on March 9. It is the first in that field to come on-line in twenty years.

The Salton Sea known geothermal resource area (KGRA), EnergySource President and CEO Dave Watson said, has a total economically recoverable geothermal resource potential of between 1,400 and 2,000 megawatts. It has a developed capacity of just under 330 megawatts.

Among geothermal opportunities, Watson said, “the Salton Sea KGRA is unique. It is the most powerful resource in the U.S.,” with “a capacity factor approaching 95 percent. It has the best combination of high pressure, very high temperatures — 600 degrees Fahrenheit and above — and very good permeability, because you’re drilling into a sedimentary basin.”

(complete article)