Lightning Dock Update
Betting on an underperforming geothermal resource, Zanskar’s new step-out production well at Lightning Dock is a world-beating gusher
February 3, 2025
At Zanskar, we believe that geothermal is the best near-term option for clean, firm power at scale, and that scaling any form of geothermal energy quickly and cost efficiently starts with conventional geothermal resources (“hydrothermal”).
Our approach to do this has always focused on two key elements:
First, demonstrating that there are numerous undiscovered or poorly characterized sites that modern, data collection methods and large compute statistical tools can help unlock. This approach blends natural and artificial intelligence that is informed by large, geospatial datasets.
Second, demonstrating that these sites can produce far more energy than the industry has historically shown and than current markets think is possible. We do this by rigorously accounting for subsurface uncertainty with stochastic simulation, collecting targeted datasets, and making data driven drilling bets.
We have already proven the first part of our thesis: there are an enormous number of previously undiscovered or otherwise overlooked sites. Our field teams have been out collecting data for 3 years, often in challenging conditions, and their efforts have led to the identification of a large number of previously unknown sites. Depending on your definitions around the edges, we have found more in the last year than the industry did in the last decade and soon will have found more than any other company in history (Smith et al., 2025). Some of these sites have the potential to be world-class, and we have no doubt that many more such resources are out there (hint hint, wink wink).
The second part of our thesis requires drilling full sized production wells that we can flow, and therefore, has been harder to prove due to its greater capital and permitting requirements. It is our longstanding conviction that most hydrothermal resources can be more productive than their historical output. Modern tools and technologies will allow us to tap deeper into these resources and target them more accurately and precisely (Liang et al., 2025). This represents the next phase of growth for Zanskar. Through back-testing and proxy testing of our models in digital twin environments, we have become increasingly confident in our ability to prove this, and to demonstrate it at scale.
So when it was announced that the Lightning Dock geothermal field was being sold by its prior operator due to underperformance issues, we felt there was no better time to dive in head first and acquire it to test our approach (link). We had already collected our own unique data sets in that region and thus weren’t starting from scratch, but we knew it would be a steep learning curve learning to operate a plant and to design, engineer, procure and drill large-diameter, deep production wells to expand its output.
Now, less than 8 months after acquiring the field, we are proud to announce that we have completed our first step-out production well—and the outcome is as good as we could have hoped! We targeted an ~7500-8000 foot deep fracture zone with a directionally-drilled large diameter geothermal well, placing a bet on exceptional reservoir productivity and flow. This bet paid off. After a brief flow test, we observed a productivity index of ~50 GPM / PSI and fluid temperatures of ~325 F. Conservatively, this single production well is capable of fueling the entire 15 MW-nameplate power plant, shifting the site’s limitation to surface equipment instead of resource. Notably, this well is also positioned to become the most productive pumped geothermal well in operation today in the USA (Figure 1)*, and likely the world, after connecting it to the plant.
Figure 1. Comparison of average thermal power delivered in 2024 by geothermal production wells in Nevada (n=128; NDOM data; inclusive of hydrothermal, EGS, and direct use wells) to new Lightning Dock production well. Enthalpy estimated using IAPWS97 steam property tables. Note that Nevada is the only state that reports well-by-well production data, and also represents the majority of all pumped geothermal wells in the nation.
This outcome confirms the incredible potential of the Lightning Dock resource and is strong validation of the second part of our thesis that hydrothermal resources have more to give. We get that this outcome is n=1, and we are excited to prove that we are not (and Lightning Dock is not) a one hit wonder, so stay tuned.
Until then, we are incredibly proud of what the Zanskar team has accomplished, and we’re excited to see the impact these new technologies are having on driving down costs and reducing risks in subsurface development. We’re excited to share more details in the coming months.
*Footnote: Our brief flow test demonstrated a productivity index of ~50 GPM / PSI. With a high-flow pump installed, our new Lightning Dock well is modeled to produce ~5000 GPM at ~330 F. A simple query of all Nevada production wells for our new well’s metrics returns zero wells. During 2024, only 9 wells had temperatures > 325 F (Dixie Valley, Soda Lake and Steamboat) and only 8 wells had flow > 4000 GPM (McGinness Hills, Tungsten Mountain, Don Campbell), with no overlap between the two. The closest well in terms of thermal power delivered is McGinness Hills 36C-10, which had an average flow of 4077 GPM and fluid temperature of 315 F.