Hudson Ranch power project gets underway

The project has been under development since 2006 by Catalyst Renewables and Hannon Armstrong, the majority owners of EnergySource (formerly known as CHAR).

The geothermal power plant will produce electricity from naturally occurring geothermal steam. The steam is formed when production wells tap into superheated water reservoirs thousands of feet beneath the earth’s surface and will be used to power the plant’s turbines.

Debt financing for the nearly $400m (£277m) project was raised by an eight-member bank syndicate led by ING, Societe Generale and West LB, and included Union Bank, MetLife, CIBC, Siemens Financial and Investec.

The plant will take 21 months to build and will employ 35 full-time employees when complete.

The project will benefit from US Federal tax incentives contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).