How an overlooked geothermal plant got a second chance

一座被忽视的地热发电厂如何获得新生

In June 2024, a small company called Zanskar purchased a geothermal power plant in New Mexico that was failing fast. The water coming from the underground reservoir was getting colder by the day, making the plant uneconomical to run. Now, two years later, that plant is running at full capacity again, thanks to a new well. With the help of advanced modeling and modern drilling technology, the company was able to identify a better potential well site, drill down thousands of feet, and revive the entire operation. As the world looks for more sources of emissions-free electricity that are available 24-7, Lightning Dock shows there’s still hidden potential deep beneath our feet.

2024年6月，一家名为Zanskar的小公司收购了新墨西哥州一座濒临倒闭的地热发电厂。当时，从地下储层涌出的水温日益下降，导致该电厂的运营变得入不敷出。如今，两年过去了，得益于一口新井的开凿，该电厂已恢复满负荷运转。借助先进的建模技术和现代钻探技术，该公司成功确定了一个更具潜力的井位，向下钻探了数千英尺，并使整个项目起死回生。在全球寻求更多全天候零排放电力来源之际，Lightning Dock电厂的案例表明，在我们脚下的深处仍蕴藏着巨大的潜力。

Conventional geothermal power plants rely on having the right underground conditions. Water flows through fractured hot rocks to harvest heat and then through a power plant to generate electricity. If the water isn’t hot enough or not enough flows, the power plant can’t work efficiently. Lightning Dock came online in 2013, and the site historically had two production wells that were used to feed the power plant. It’s common to see temperatures drop at a well site over time, typically at a rate of 1 to 2 °F per year. In the period before Zanskar took over the site, Lightning Dock saw temperatures drop by 50 °F over five years, a rate of 10 °F per year. When the company purchased the facility, the water going into the power plant was just 250 °F, while the plant was designed to operate at temperatures of at least 310 °F.

传统地热发电厂依赖于特定的地下条件。水流经破碎的热岩层吸收热量，随后进入发电厂进行发电。如果水温不够高或流量不足，发电厂就无法高效运行。Lightning Dock电厂于2013年投入使用，历史上曾有两口生产井为电厂供水。井口温度随时间推移而下降是常见现象，通常每年下降1到2华氏度。然而在Zanskar接手之前，Lightning Dock的温度在五年内下降了50华氏度，即每年下降10华氏度。当该公司收购该设施时，进入电厂的水温仅为250华氏度，而该电厂的设计运行温度至少需要310华氏度。

When Zanskar mapped the underground conditions at Lightning Dock using advanced modeling techniques, they discovered that the wells were only hitting the very top of the reservoir there. Those production wells were quite shallow (at just 2,500 feet deep) and not in the best location, says Joel Edwards, Zanskar’s cofounder and CEO. The company’s modeling predicted that if the company were to drill another, deeper well in a new spot, the plant would be able to run efficiently. The team drilled a new well that reaches a depth of 8,000 feet and started operation in May 2025. After a full year, the well is still flowing at more than 4,000 gallons per minute.

当Zanskar利用先进的建模技术绘制出Lightning Dock的地下状况图时，他们发现原有的井位仅触及了储层的最顶端。Zanskar联合创始人兼首席执行官Joel Edwards表示，这些生产井非常浅（仅2500英尺深），且位置并不理想。公司的模型预测，如果能在新地点钻一口更深的井，电厂就能高效运行。团队随后钻了一口深达8000英尺的新井，并于2025年5月投入使用。一年后，该井的流量依然保持在每分钟4000加仑以上。

The plant has “completely turned around,” Edwards says. “It looks really exciting.” The data so far shows that the plant should be successful for years to come. “Ultimately you need to run these things for long time frames to get confidence in their performance over long time frames,” Edwards says. The progress at Lightning Dock could be good news for other geothermal sites too. The conventional wisdom in geothermal energy is that the deeper you go, the hotter it gets. But there’s usually a trade-off: With those depths come rocks that are packed tighter together. So drilling deeper could mean the hot water can’t flow as effectively, a problem for anyone trying to use it to generate electricity in a power plant.

Edwards表示，该电厂已经“彻底扭转了局面”，“前景非常令人振奋”。目前的数据显示，该电厂在未来几年内都将保持成功。Edwards说：“归根结底，你需要长期运行这些设施，才能对它们的长期性能建立信心。”Lightning Dock取得的进展对其他地热项目来说也是好消息。地热能源界的传统观点认为，钻得越深，温度越高。但通常存在一个权衡：深度增加意味着岩石密度更大。因此，钻得更深可能导致热水无法有效流动，这对试图利用地热发电的人来说是一个难题。

What the team found, however, was that the flow actually increased in the area where they drilled the new well. “That fundamentally changes how you think about not just Lightning Dock but all hydrothermal assets in America and what the potential can be for all of them,” says Ben Brenner, director of federal affairs at Zanskar. Over the past year of operation, Lightning Dock generated over twice the electricity it would have with the old wells. This is a relatively small power plant, with a capacity of 15 megawatts going to the local grid (about enough to power 11,000 US homes).

然而，团队发现，在他们钻探新井的区域，水流量实际上增加了。Zanskar联邦事务总监Ben Brenner表示：“这从根本上改变了我们对Lightning Dock乃至美国所有水热资产的看法，也重新定义了它们的潜力。”在过去一年的运营中，Lightning Dock产生的电量是旧井发电量的两倍多。这是一个相对较小的发电厂，向当地电网输送15兆瓦的电力（足以满足约11,000户美国家庭的用电需求）。

Oil and gas developers have chased resources deeper underground over the past few decades. Operations started relatively close to the surface, but oil and gas production can stretch down 20,000 feet or more today. “I think that arc is going to play out in geothermal,” Edwards says. While typical geothermal well fields range from 3,000 to 5,000 feet deep, it could become more common to go deeper in the future, he adds. The company plans to do further development at the Lightning Dock site: with a few years of development and an upgrade to the power plant, it could get even more electricity out of this area, Edwards says.

过去几十年来，石油和天然气开发商一直在向地下更深处寻求资源。早期的开采作业相对靠近地表，但如今油气生产深度可达20,000英尺甚至更深。Edwards说：“我认为地热领域也将遵循这一发展轨迹。”他补充道，虽然典型的地热井场深度在3,000到5,000英尺之间，但未来向更深处钻探可能会变得更加普遍。Edwards表示，公司计划在Lightning Dock进行进一步开发：通过几年的开发和电厂升级，该地区有望产出更多的电力。

There’s been a lot of buzz and investment in enhanced geothermal systems—projects that aim to expand where geothermal resources can be used. Fervo Energy, for example, uses fracking techniques to open up rock that would otherwise be too closed off for traditional geothermal energy. But there’s still plenty of “low-hanging fruit” in the geothermal world, Edwards says. Many of these conventional resources have plenty of potential—they just need a second look.

目前，增强型地热系统（旨在扩大地热资源使用范围的项目）备受关注并吸引了大量投资。例如，Fervo Energy利用水力压裂技术来打开那些对传统地热能源而言过于封闭的岩层。但Edwards认为，地热领域仍有许多“唾手可得的果实”。许多传统资源仍具有巨大潜力，只是需要我们重新审视。