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Oil and gas company seeks to establish the first hybrid geothermal power project in Canada

Oil and gas company seeks to establish the first hybrid geothermal power project in Canada Swan Hills, Alberta, Canada (source: flickr/ MissusK (Cindy),
Carlo Cariaga 1 Aug 2019

In the town of Swan Hill, Razor Energy is developing a hybrid geothermal power plant, which could be the first of its kind in Canada.

Razor Energy, a Calgary-based oil and gas company, is currently exploring the possibility of generating geothermal power from hot water reservoirs in Swan Hill, Alberta, Canada. Construction of the project is already underway and has been designed to generate 21 MW from a combination of hot water and natural gas.

The project has been developed in collaboration with the University of Alberta’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences headed by Jonathan Banks.

“This is a first of its kind in Canada. Whether it will be the first geothermal installed power in Canada remains to be seen” said Banks. Although geothermal energy is more commonly found in volcanic areas, this initiative is only one of many that seeks to explore the geothermal potential of non-conventional landscapes.

According to Razor president Doug Bailey, the results of the ongoing project will be used to extrapolate what works and what doesn’t work across other areas in the entire province. In the face of hydrocarbon producers looking to reduce their carbon footprint, this can open up a lot of opportunities and local solutions.

The project is expected to cost $15 to $20 million, with $7 million already granted to Razor by the federal and provincial governments. Razor’s target is for the project to be connect to Alberta’s grid by the first quarter of 2020.

Source: Edmonton Journal