Salt River Project has announced that construction is under way
on its new geothermal power generation plant in Southern
California. SRP signed a 30-year agreement to purchase all of
the 49-megawatts of power the facility is expected to generate
when it becomes operational in early 2012. The power company
said a geothermal power plant produces clean electricity from
naturally occurring geothermal steam. The steam is formed when
production wells tap into superheated brine reservoirs thousands
of feet beneath the Earth's surface. Geothermal energy is
considered a renewable-energy source. The hot brine flashed to
steam to generate electricity is re-injected to maintain the
productivity of the reservoir for long-term power production.
SRP is the largest provider of electricity to the greater
Phoenix area.