New Mexico Geothermal Lease Auction: 47 Parcels Awarded for Total of $16.5 Million
2026-06-20 11:51
Favorite

en.Wedoany.com Reported - The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently completed a geothermal lease auction in New Mexico, awarding 47 parcels for a total of approximately $16.5 million, covering 152,381 acres. The auction included parcels in Doña Ana, Grant, Hidalgo, Luna, and Sierra counties.

New Mexico geothermal lease auction awards 47 parcels for over $16 million

A total of 68 parcels were offered in this lease auction, with only 47 receiving bids, and 18 companies participating. The highest bid for a single parcel was $3.14 million. Among the winning bidders, Novo Mesa LLC secured 10 parcels, EDM Geothermal LLC and Thomas E Jennings each secured 7 parcels, Ormat Nevada Inc secured 6 parcels, Rock Canyon Resources Inc secured 5 parcels, Durin Energy LLC and Magdalena Energy LLC each secured 3 parcels, Entrada Energy and Zanskar Geothermal & Minerals each secured 2 parcels, and Invenergy Geothermal Development and EGX Energy Inc each secured 1 parcel. The highest bid was submitted by Rock Canyon Resources for a 4,479-acre parcel in Sierra County, with a per-acre bid of $701, the highest unit price in this auction.

The BLM will issue leases after review and payment completion. The total bonus bids, rents, and subsequent royalties from these leases will be distributed among the U.S. Treasury, the State of New Mexico, and the counties where the leases are located. The BLM plans to hold other geothermal lease auctions later this year, including in Utah (August 2026), Nevada (October 2026), and Idaho (November 2026).

A report released by Project InnerSpace about a year ago indicated that New Mexico has a geothermal potential of 163 gigawatts. The state currently has one operating geothermal power facility—the Lightning Dock project, which was acquired by Zanskar and restored to full capacity through the drilling of new production wells. Additionally, XGS Energy plans to build a 150-megawatt geothermal power facility in New Mexico in partnership with Meta.

This article is compiled by Wedoany. All AI citations must indicate the source as "Wedoany". If there is any infringement or other issues, please notify us promptly, and we will modify or delete it accordingly. Email: news@wedoany.com