On a late-summer day in southern Saskatchewan oil country, a mud-splattered crew on a drilling rig gets ready to pump cement down a hole that plunges three kilometres into the Earth. As they yell to each other over jackhammering and the thuds of equipment, a combine combs the flat prairie in the distance, trundling past lazily dipping oil pumpjacks that dot the landscape.<\/p>\n
This crew isn\u2019t drilling for oil, though. They\u2019re after hot water. It\u2019s here, and by 2024, DEEP Earth Energy Production Corp. hopes Canada\u2019s first geothermal power plant will be, too, generating low-emission electricity by tapping into those steamy reservoirs and pumping them to the surface. It\u2019s one of a handful of projects across the country pursuing geothermal energy, bolstered by a growing global push for net-zero emissions and government cash injections.<\/p>\n
DEEP\u2019s test wells are scattered around the prairies about 10 kilometres from the U.S. border, just south of the small village of Torquay. Feasibility studies complete, the project is moving into more detailed engineering and testing, which will govern the final cost of the 32-megawatt facility.<\/p>\n
The long-term goal of DEEP is to provide hundreds of megawatts of baseload power onto Saskatchewan\u2019s power grid, using small 20MW power plants. Kirsten Marcia, DEEP\u2019s president and chief executive officer, hopes to have a power-purchase contract in place by January with SaskPower, Saskatchewan\u2019s government-owned power supplier.<\/p>\n
Geothermal is still in its infancy in Canada, partly because of the price tag.<\/p>\n
While the cost of solar has plummeted by close to 90 per cent over the past decade, geothermal remains an expensive source of renewable power.<\/p>\n
Sara Hastings-Simon, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary and an expert in energy, innovation and climate policy, says that geothermal was left behind in the first round of renewables development. It was further from commercialization than wind or solar, and less competitive.<\/p>\n
But as the focus on decarbonizing Canada\u2019s power grid grows, Dr. Hastings-Simon says it\u2019s worthwhile to start building out the geothermal resource.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like there\u2019s a little bit of a geothermal renaissance,\u201d she says, pointing to recent U.S. investments to develop, pilot and scale up geothermal technology. \u201cI do think it\u2019s Canada\u2019s time to shine. It\u2019s like the next block that\u2019s needed in the building of the decarbonized grid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Natural Resources Canada is already betting on geothermal power. It has awarded millions in grants over the past few years, including to the DEEP project in Saskatchewan; the Tu Deh-Kah project in British Columbia; and a unique closed-loop geothermal technology, called Eavor-Loop, in Alberta.<\/p>\n
Recipients of those grants say the cash was crucial in getting projects to the next stage of development \u2013 especially in fossil fuel-rich provinces in the West, where the technology, equipment and workers needed for geothermal projects compete with the oil and gas sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a whole world-class industry right here,\u201d says DEEP\u2019s Ms. Marcia. \u201cWe\u2019re not outsourcing this from California to do a geothermal project. We\u2019re outsourcing this here in Saskatchewan with all these guys who are going home to their families every night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Proponents of geothermal also see it as a transition opportunity, where workers with oil and gas experience can easily pivot their skills to a greener sector. And here in southeast Saskatchewan, deep in oil and gas country, the general consensus is that any opportunity to get people and equipment back to work is a good one.<\/p>\n
Take the rig that towers over the prairie at DEEP. A few years ago, it was used for oil and gas. Now it\u2019s drilling for hot water, following a stint on a potash project. When it\u2019s done at DEEP, it will move to another site to drill for lithium.<\/p>\n
The rig belongs to Panther Drilling, one of the few local drilling companies still in business after years of turmoil in the oil industry. President Cory Hicks says DEEP has been a boon for his company. After all, he says, the work still boils down to one task: \u201cWe are basically digging a hole.\u201d<\/p>\n
About 2,000 kilometres away, in northern B.C., the Tu Deh-Kah project \u2013 owned by the Fort Nelson First Nation \u2013 is targeting a geothermal facility of seven to 15 megawatts that will provide heat and power to the community.<\/p>\n
It comprises two wells, one of which is an old gas well in the Clarke Lake field, deepened and repurposed for geothermal. Late last month, to better reflect its Indigenous ownership, the First Nation renamed the project Tu Deh-Kah \u2013 which translates to \u201cwater steam\u201d \u2013 and blessed the site with drummers and prayers.<\/p>\n
Chief Sharleen Gale says the project has been in the works since 2017, when initial investigations by Geoscience B.C. confirmed the region had excellent geothermal potential. And while the ultimate goal of Tu Deh-Kah is to power and heat Fort Nelson, she says numerous potential spin-offs include food security using reliable renewable heat for greenhouses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese kinds of projects aren\u2019t here to displace oil and gas completely. We all use things that require oil and gas products. But we have to be able to work in balance,\u201d she says. \u201cIn my eyes, geothermal is a viable technology, and it aligns the economy with the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eavor Technologies Inc., headquartered in Alberta, goes one step further in the quest for zero emissions. Unlike conventional projects, the company\u2019s Eavor-Loop geothermal technology is a sealed-off, closed-loop system that doesn\u2019t require a permeable aquifer.<\/p>\n
Eavor\u2019s Neil Ethier compares the technology to a vehicle radiator \u2013 which circulates fluid in a closed loop to remove heat from a gasoline engine \u2013 and says it can be placed almost anywhere, making it more scalable.<\/p>\n
Eavor drilled its first full-scale demonstration project in 2019, near the Alberta community of Rocky Mountain House. Now, more than half of the company\u2019s current projects are in Germany. As that country moves away from nuclear, the government is offering incentives to inject more geothermal power into the grid because it provides reliable baseload electricity.<\/p>\n
Oil companies BP and Chevron have also hedged their bets with Eavor, investing US$40-million in February.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat not only gave us the equity; it also gave us the clout,\u201d Mr. Ethier says. \u201cWe had super-majors look at this for months and months and months and months, to go through the due diligence to say, \u2018Yes, this technology is working, and we\u2019re willing to put our name and our money into it.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Political will \u2013 and the dollars that back it \u2013 will likely continue to play a crucial role in geothermal development.<\/p>\n
In Saskatchewan, Energy and Resources Minister Bronwyn Eyre says that although geothermal is relatively new to the province, the government is \u201cexploring everything we can do, policy-wise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next door in Alberta, the provincial government passed a Geothermal Resource Development Act in 2020. Energy Minister Sonya Savage told The Globe and Mail in an e-mail her government is working on other regulatory enhancements and anticipates proclaiming the Act later in 2021.<\/p>\n
Alison Thompson, chair of the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association, says that along with geothermal power, Canada has a huge opportunity to use the technology for heat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no party that doesn\u2019t like geothermal,\u201d she says, \u201cbut the more knowledgeable our politicians or bureaucrats can be, the more effective we\u2019re going to be as an industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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