Utilities in New Mexico Seek Solar Power

Four utilities in the State of New Mexico are seeking proposals for a solar electric power plant to be built within the State. The solicitation is for parabolic trough technology, in which thermal oil travels in pipes through rows of mirrors that are curved to focus the sunlight. The hot oil then powers a conventional steam turbine.

According to the solicitation, the plant must deliver enough electrical energy for at least 29,000 homes, and must be online by the year 2012.

While traditional solar trough plants consume as much as 1000 gallons of water per megawatt-hour of electricity produced, the New Mexico project will require either dry cooling or hybrid cooling, which raises the cost of the electricity but can reduce water consumption by more than 90 percent.

Likely bidders for the project include Bechtel Corporation, who already has a similar project in Mexico and manages the National Laboratory at Los Alamos, New Mexico.

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