New Mexico geothermal lease sale nets over $16 million on bids for 47 parcels
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The recent geothermal lease sale in New Mexico received over $16.5 million in winning bids for 47 parcels, with a total of 11 companies making winning bids.
The Bureau of Land Management recently held a geothermal lease sale in New Mexico, receiving about $16.5 million in winning bids for 47 parcels covering 152,381 acres. The sale covered parcels across Doña Ana, Grant, Hidalgo, Luna, and Sierra counties.
A total of 68 parcels were offered during the lease sale but only 47 received winning bids. A total of 18 companies placed bids during the lease sale. A high bid per parcel of $3.14 million was recorded. The companies that made winning bids, as well as the number of parcels they were awarded, are as follows:
- Novo Mesa LLC (10 parcels)
- EDM Geothermal LLC (7 parcels)
- Thomas E Jennings (7 parcels)
- Ormat Nevada Inc (6 parcels)
- Rock Canyon Resources Inc (5 parcels)
- Durin Energy LLC (3 parcels)
- Magdalena Energy LLC (3 parcels)
- Entrada Energy (2 parcels)
- Zanskar Geothermal & Minerals (2 parcels)
- Invenergy Geothermal Development (1 parcel)
- EGX Energy Inc (1 parcel)
The highest bid was made by Rock Canyon Resources for a 4479-acre parcel located in Sierra County. The parcel received a high bid of $701 per acre, which was also the highest for this lease sale.
The BLM may issue leases once review and payment are complete. The combined bonus bids, rentals, and subsequent royalties from the leases will be distributed between the U.S. Treasury, the State of New Mexico and the counties where the leases are located.
The following are the other BLM geothermal lease sales planned later this year:
- Utah – August 2026
- Nevada – October 2026
- Idaho – November 2026
Around a year ago, a report published by Project InnerSpace indicated that New Mexico has 163 GW of geothermal potential. New Mexico currently has one operational geothermal power facility – the Lighting Dock project which was acquired by Zanskar and repowered to its full capacity by drilling a new production well. XGS Energy is also planning a 150-MW geothermal power facility in New Mexico in partnership with Meta.
Source: Bureau of Land Management (1 and 2)
