The Lightning Dock geothermal plant in New Mexico is back at full capacity after Zanskar drilled a new production well into a hotter, better-flowing part of the underground reservoir, according to MIT Technology Review and company executives. Zanskar bought the struggling site in June 2024, when the water feeding the plant had become too cool for the facility to run economically.
The turnaround matters because conventional geothermal power is one of the cleaner electricity sources that can run around the clock, provided the rocks, water and fractures underground cooperate. Lightning Dock is small, with 15 megawatts of capacity sent to the local grid, about enough for 11,000 US homes. It is also a useful test case for whether neglected geothermal fields can be improved with better subsurface modeling and deeper drilling, rather than written off.
How did Zanskar revive Lightning Dock?
Conventional geothermal plants use hot water moving through fractured rock. The water carries heat to the surface, where a power plant turns that heat into electricity. If the water cools too much, or if too little water flows, the plant loses efficiency and can become uneconomic.
Lightning Dock began operating in 2013 and historically relied on two production wells. Temperature decline is not unusual at geothermal sites, with drops often around 1 to 2 degrees Fahrenheit per year, according to the report. Before Zanskar took over, Lightning Dock’s wells cooled by 50 degrees Fahrenheit over five years, about 10 degrees per year.
By the time Zanskar bought the facility, water entering the plant was about 250 degrees Fahrenheit. The plant had been designed for water of at least 310 degrees Fahrenheit.
Zanskar’s team used advanced modeling to map the underground reservoir and concluded that the existing wells were poorly placed and too shallow. Joel Edwards, Zanskar’s cofounder and chief executive, told MIT Technology Review that the old production wells were about 2,500 feet deep and were hitting only the top of the reservoir.
The company’s model predicted that a deeper well in a different location could restore efficient operation. Zanskar drilled to 8,000 feet, and the new well began operating in May 2025.
After a year in service, the well was still producing more than 4,000 gallons per minute, according to Edwards. He said the plant has “completely turned around” and that “it looks really exciting.” Over the past year, Lightning Dock generated more than twice as much electricity as it would have using the old wells, according to the report.
What does this mean for other geothermal plants?
The result challenges one annoying assumption in geothermal development. Hotter rock is usually deeper, but deeper rock is often more tightly packed, which can restrict water flow. A deeper well is useless if it reaches heat but not enough moving water.
At Lightning Dock, Zanskar found that flow improved at the new drilling location. Ben Brenner, Zanskar’s director of federal affairs, told MIT Technology Review that the finding changes how the company thinks about Lightning Dock and other hydrothermal assets in the United States.
The company is not claiming the job is finished. Edwards said long operating periods are needed before anyone can be confident about performance over longer time frames. He also said Zanskar plans more development at Lightning Dock and that, with several years of work and an upgrade to the power plant, the site could produce more electricity.
The geothermal industry has recently drawn attention for enhanced geothermal systems, including work by Fervo Energy that uses fracking techniques to open rock that traditional geothermal projects could not use. Edwards argued that conventional geothermal fields still have “low-hanging fruit” if developers take another look with newer models and drilling tools.
This story draws on original reporting from MIT Technology Review.
