Zanskar Geothermal & Minerals, a US AI-powered geothermal discovery start-up, has acquired Lightning Dock Geothermal, including the Bruce Levy geothermal power plant, from Cyrq Energy LLC, a domestic peer. Located in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, Lightning Dock is noted as the easternmost geothermal facility in the United States.
Originally launched in 2013 with a 4-megawatt (MWe) capacity, the Lightning Dock project underwent a repowering effort in 2017 by Cyrq Energy in collaboration with Turboden and Industrial Builders. This upgrade aimed to increase capacity to 13.7 MWe nominally, with off-design capability up to 15.2 MWe using an organic rankine cycle (ORC) turbine.
Zanskar Geothermal's CEO Carl Hoiland expressed optimism about the acquisition, stating, “In addition to providing clean power to New Mexico, the geological system and facility here are well suited for development and testing of new subsurface technologies that have the potential to make geothermal energy the most affordable and widely deployed source of firm renewable power.”
Zanskar Geothermal utilizes machine learning and big data to mitigate risks and reduce costs associated with geothermal development.
This acquisition follows the company's successful Series A funding round earlier this year, raising USD 30 million (EUR 27.9 million) to advance its technology and greenfield projects.
