Private Investors Back Zanskar’s Mission to Harness Hidden Geothermal Resources with AI Technology
A Utah-based startup which uses artificial intelligence to explore, de-risk and utilize geothermal energy resources has gained $115 million in new funding to expand those digitally-informed explorations.
Zanskar’s Series C funding round was led by private equity investor Spring Lane Capital. The round included funds from Obvious Ventures, Union Square Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital, all three of which participated in earlier funding rounds.
The new financing capacity should enable Zanskar to deepen its GW-scale pipeline for geothermal exploration and development campaigns. The company wants to construct and tap into vast geothermal reserves in the western U.S.
This round marks the largest venture investment so far into Zanskar’s vision of AI-enabled geothermal exploration.
“We started Zanskar with the belief that AI would have as profound an impact on geothermal cost and scalability as modern drilling technologies have,” Carl Holland, CEO and co-founder of Zanskar, said in a statement. “It would do so by enabling us to find more hidden geothermal systems, and to produce more power from each of those systems, than legacy models assumed. The result is a terawatt-scale opportunity.”
Skies the limit for ground-based energy
Indeed, earlier this week the National Laboratory of the Rockies (until recently called the National Energy Renewable Laboratory) released its annual US Geothermal Market Report. Geothermal power installed nameplate capacity grew a rather modest 8% over the past four years to 3.9 GW of electric-equivalent energy, according to the NRL’s report done in collaboration with Geothermal Rising and the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association.
The company’s exploration process involves high-resolution geo datasets combined with geologists utilizing custom-built artificial intelligence tools to target drilling sites. Among Zanskar’s finds include the recent “Big Blind” project in western Nevada, as well as the Pumpernickel and Lightning Dock geothermal installations.
Zanskar’s mission is centered around the contention that perhaps 1 TW (1,000 GW or 1 million MW) of geothermal power is potentially accessible underground. This potential has attracted more than $1.5 billion of private investment over recent years, including the funding for Zanskar.
“Spring Lane is excited to lead the Series C financing for Zanskar and join the Board of the company,” said Jason Scott, partner and Entrepreneur in Residence, Spring Lane Capital. "We are eager to support Zanskar because we believe there is a near infinite demand for firm, clean power around the world right now and geothermal energy is one of the only immediate ways to serve this enormous market. Zanskar is unique in that they have identified more geothermal anomalies in North America than any other company in decades. We believe that Spring Lane’s financial and operational support will enable them to rapidly develop enormous amounts of geothermal capacity, initially across the Western US.”
Others in the Series C round include Munich Re Ventures, Susquehanna Sustainable Investments, Clearvision Ventures, Orion Industrial Ventures, Safar Partners, Imperative Ventures, StepStone Group, University Growth Fund, Cross Creek, GVP Climate, Tranquillion, Carica Sustainable Investments, UP.Partners, and the All Aboard Fund.
Geothermal players are expanding work
Zanskar is not alone in announcing recent high levels of private investment in geothermal exploration. Low-carbon energy project developer Ormat Technologies this week revealed it was making a $25 million equity investment in Sage Geosystems Inc. as part of Sage’s nearly $100 million Series B funding round.
Sage plans to pilot its proprietary Pressure Geothermal technology at an existing Ormat power plant, with the goal of extracting geothermal heat from hot dry rock and accelerating the time to market for next-generation geothermal solutions, according to the companies’ press release. Upon successful completion of the pilot, Ormat will have the right to develop, build, own and operate geothermal power plants and energy storage projects utilizing Sage’s technology.
Geothermal’s potential of limitless energy, although difficult to tap, is drawing work on multiple fronts by numerous companies. Among those working on drilling projects include Fervo Energy, Quaise, GA Drilling, Gradient Geothermal, Geysers Power and Bedrock Energy.
About the Author
Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor
Managing Editor
For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].
Rod Walton has spent 17 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.
Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World.
EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.