DEEP Earth Energy Production Corp. announced the successful drilling January 11 of the first test well for a planned 5 MW geothermal power production facility located in Southeast Saskatchewan. The vertical well, managed by Frontier Project Solutions and drilled by Horizon Drilling, reached its target total depth of 3,530 metres on December 16, 2018. The company says the well is the deepest ever drilled in Saskatchewan’s history. Final testing results from the drilling program will refine the assumptions made on the reservoir, and allow for optimization of design parameters.
Drilling a test well
The drilling program is supported by a private placement from one of the founding partners of Epoch Energy Development, a geothermal company established to unlock heat energy in Canada. Epoch commercializes geothermal resources in partnership with municipalities, First Nations, resource companies, industry, and food growers. The investment is part of a strategic alliance between DEEP and Epoch.
DEEP says its long term strategy is to contribute to a cleaner energy future by building hundreds of megawatts of geothermal power facilities, supported by SaskPower’s goal of reducing emissions 40% below 2005 levels, by 2030. The proposed facility would generate baseload power from a hot (120˚C) aquifer. The produced electricity will be sold under an existing Power Purchase Agreement with SaskPower and will generate roughly the power required for 5,000 homes and offset about 27,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
DEEP awarded the drilling contract to Horizon Drilling with drilling operations commencing on November 15, 2018. Frontier Project Solutions is providing engineering and project management services. The vertical well is designed for preliminary flow testing of the Winnipeg and Deadwood formations at a depth of 3,500 metres – at the base of the Williston Sedimentary Basin, making it the deepest well ever drilled in Saskatchewan.
“Geothermal is one of the most dependable sources of renewable energy globally and the only renewable that can produce reliable baseload power that runs 24/7,” adds Kirsten Marcia, President and CEO of DEEP. “The facility will use Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) turbine technology to generate clean baseload power. This is well-established technology that pumps the geothermal fluid through heat exchangers, then transfers that heat to an organic fluid that vaporizes and drives a generator to produce clean electrical power. This project has the potential to launch Canada’s geothermal power industry alongside the United States, which has been leading this sector globally for decades.”
The next steps for the project include the drilling and coring of a Mannville injection well on the same location before spring.
Innovation Saskatchewan provided $175,000 of funding support on the project. Natural Resources Canada had also provided funding of $1,350,000 for the project to that date. The Government of Canada overall is to provide $25.6 million in funding for the facility, allowing mitigation of financial risks allowing emerging renewables to play a larger role in Saskatchewan and Canada’s electricity supply.