Cimarron Solar I Project

In 2009, Tri-State and First Solar (Tempe, Ariz.) signed an agreement to develop one of the largest solar photovoltaic facilities in the world – the “Cimarron I Solar Project.”  The 30-megawatt power plant will be built on a 250-acre site in Colfax County in northeastern New Mexico, within the service territory of Tri-State member system Springer Electric Cooperative.  The project will be owned and operated by Southern Company (Atlanta, Ga.).  Construction of the facility is scheduled to commence by April 2010, with the first portion of the system producing energy by August of that year.  The plant is scheduled to be fully operational by the end of 2010.

The solar field will consist of 500,000 2’ x 4’ photovoltaic modules constructed with First Solar’s patented thin film semiconductor technology.  First Solar is acting as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor and will monitor and maintain the facility, while Tri-State has contracted to purchase the electricity output from the facility for a 25-year period.  Cimarron I, which will provide enough energy to serve the equivalent of 9,000 homes, further diversifies Tri-State’s generation mix, assists the G&T in addressing carbon emissions and helps meets its member co-ops’ renewable energy requirements.

At the time the agreement was announced, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said, “New Mexico has some of the best renewable resources and workforce in the West.  Tri-State’s and First Solar’s investment in the state will create jobs and advance our agenda for renewable energy."

Solar augmentation study

With a goal of increasing power plant efficiency while incorporating renewable technologies, Tri-State entered into an agreement with the Electric Power Research Institute in 2009 to host a case study that is aimed at helping electric utilities add solar energy to fossil-fueled generating stations.  Tri-State’s 245-megawatt Escalante Station – a coal-based power plant located in Prewitt, N.M. – is the host facility for the study.

The process being studied involves introducing steam generated by a solar thermal field to the conventional power plant’s steam cycle to offset some of the fuel required to generate electricity.  Potential benefits of a solar-augmented steam-cycle facility include adding utility-scale solar power generation without the challenges of siting a new plant and new power block, reducing the facility’s carbon dioxide footprint and gaining valuable experience with solar thermal technologies to assess their future potential in a utility’s generation mix.

The project will provide a conceptual design study, analyze options to retrofit the existing power plant and identify new plant design options.  EPRI is relying on its expertise in solar technologies, steam cycles and plant operation, as well as past solar and fossil fuel plant studies.  Said Dr. Bryan Hannegan, vice president of generation and environment at EPRI, “These ‘hybrid’ power plants’ will combine the low-cost reliability of existing fossil power plants with the environmental benefit of renewables, and help companies meet federal and state mandates to reduce their emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases with renewable energy.”

Updated: May 4, 2010