Zanskar Geothermal & Minerals, Inc. has announced the acquisition of the Lightning Dock Geothermal power plant, including the Bruce Levy geothermal power plant in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, from Cyrq Energy, LLC. The transaction was completed on May 29, 2024.

Lightning Dock holds the distinction of being the easternmost geothermal power plant in the United States and the only utility-scale geothermal power facility in New Mexico. This plant replaced the original Dale Burgett power plant in 2019 and currently supplies the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) with carbon-free, firm baseload power for customers throughout the state.

Zanskar has a longstanding relationship with Lightning Dock, providing exploration services and testing new subsurface characterization techniques at the site. The acquisition offers Zanskar an opportunity for further research and development within its renewable energy portfolio, emphasizing the company's commitment to harnessing the geothermal potential in the Western United States.

Carl Hoiland, CEO of Zanskar, expressed his enthusiasm for the acquisition, stating, “We are excited to integrate Lightning Dock and its staff into our growing portfolio and team. 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. Our work here has already yielded promising early results that can be applied to our broader portfolio of geothermal projects. We look forward to this next stage of Lightning Dock’s history.”

Chip Schneider, Interim CEO of Cyrq Energy, added, “We are proud of what Cyrq Energy has achieved with Lightning Dock and are confident that Zanskar will continue to advance the project’s success. We look forward to working with Zanskar during the transition of operations.”