XGS Energy, Inc., a developer of next-generation geothermal power systems, announced the appointment of two senior executives, naming Al Vickers as Chief Operating Officer and Kurt Fricker as Chief Procurement Officer. The company also said Dr. Ghazal Izadi has taken on the role of Chief Growth Officer, with responsibility for expanding XGS’s global geothermal resource portfolio.
The leadership changes follow the recent hiring of Chief Financial Officer Richard Chong, former Vice President of Finance at Calpine. XGS said the new appointments strengthen its operations team as it advances one of the largest geothermal development platforms in the United States.
According to the company, Vickers and Fricker bring decades of experience in building, operating and supplying large-scale energy infrastructure. Their appointments come as XGS manages more than 150,000 acres of site control across the western United States, 300 MW of offtaker commitments, including Meta and CC Power, and execution and supply chain partnerships with Baker Hughes and Vallourec.
“We are thrilled and humbled to welcome such superstars to our leadership team,” said Josh Prueher, President and CEO of XGS. “Our data center and utility customers demand rock-solid execution, on time and on budget, and our infrastructure investors value XGS’s combination of transformative geothermal technology with proven operational expertise.”
Vickers joins XGS with 30 years of experience in the energy industry. He will be responsible for the integrated delivery of the company’s project portfolio. At bp, he led major drilling, completions and oil and gas production organizations across five continents. He also served as CEO of bp’s U.S. Low Carbon Energy business and most recently as COO of Grid United, where he worked on complex HVDC interregional transmission projects.
Fricker will oversee contracting and partnerships with XGS’s core suppliers. He joins the company after leading Hess Corporation’s Global Supply Chain Asset Operations and Strategic Commercial teams, where he managed about $4 billion in annual spending and helped transform supplier relationships, category management, asset operations, contractor safety and performance teams.
XGS said its proprietary water-independent geothermal system is designed for factory-model permitting and deployment, enabling large-scale and rapid delivery of clean, baseload power. The company said the strengthened leadership team will support its transition from proven technology to proven delivery as it accelerates the construction of geothermal energy projects at scale.
