Resource World Magazine

66 www.resourceworld.com O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 8 Developments in Green Technology by Jane Bratun GREEN TECHNOLOGIES GEOTHERMAL DRILLING PROGRAM SCHEDULED FOR FALL As noted on the DEEP Earth Energy Production Corp. (DEEP) website, geo- thermal energy is the only renewable power that is independent of wind and sunshine and produces continuous power made available by an energy producer (baseload). This green energy source pro - vides zero carbon-based fuel consumption and leaves a small environmental footprint (a small surface area that does not affect bird migration). Geothermal power facili- ties produce heat that can supply power to greenhouses and fish farms, as well as facilitate food processing. With proper heat reservoir management, geothermal resources will run indefinitely. DEEP, headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and headed by Kirsten Marcia, Director, President and CEO, plans to use existing technology to harness high- quality geothermal resources to establish a renewable baseload power supply. The company's long-term goal is to develop power facilities that develop 100 to 200 megawatts of baseload power from small, repeatable 5-10 megawatt (MW) power plants. Each 5 MW facility will power approximately 5,000 households. The DEEP project is located in south - eastern Saskatchewan, a few miles north of the United States border, near the city of Estevan. Analysis of thousands of pub- lic well records in southern Saskatchewan revealed a vast, "pancake-like" hot sedi- mentary aquifer (HSA) greater than 3,000 metres deep at the base of the Williston Basin. This aquifer has a lateral continuity of over hundreds of kilometres, is 100-150 metres thick, and has a measured tempera- ture of greater than 120 degrees Celsius. The Williston Basin HSA may support a 200 MW capacity or more from about 20 plants of 5-10 MW capacity each. DEEP has secured a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) contract with SaskPower, which supplies electricity for over half a million Saskatchewan customers and can also connect to the grids in Manitoba, Alberta, and North Dakota. This is the first PPA issued for a geothermal power facility in Canada. According to the DEEP website, Saskatchewan has seen a 16% increase in energy demand over the past five years and SaskPower's demand for renewable power is growing. Another primary challenge for SaskPower is meeting Federal Greenhouse Gas Emission regulations – a challenge, because its electricity generation is domi - nated by coal-fueled (35%) and natural gas-fueled (40%) plants. In November, 2015, SaskPower announced that the province will produce 50% of its power from renewable sources by 2030. This means tripling the percentage of renew - able electricity generation capacity in Saskatchewan due to projected power growth requirements. Renewables repre- sent 1,100 MW of SaskPower's 4,400 MW provincial capacity. By 2030, the province will require a total of 3,500 MW of renew- able power generation. GeothermEx, a Schlumberger Company [SLB-NYSE], geothermal consulting and services company, provided several drill- ing designs for the DEEP well. The selected large bore well design will enable the long- term production test that will project what a full sized production well would deliver. These data will be used to construct a reservoir model and support a Bankable Feasibility Study, assuming that the resource encountered can provide produc - tion and injection at the required levels. With GeothermEx's determination that sufficient data can be collected from the single well, DEEP's board has approved this drilling and testing design. All sur - veying for the well site and access road is complete, along with the environmental checklist approval for drilling. Surface rights have been obtained through a lease with the local land owner. DEEP expe - rienced a slightly longer surface rights Kirsten Marcia, President and CEO of DEEP Earth Energy Production. Photo courtesy DEEP Earth Energy Production Corp.

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