Canada to invest on geothermal projects in Nova Scotia
Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada (source: flickr/ Michael Stokes, creative commons)
Carlo Cariaga
10 Nov 2022
The Government of Canada is investing $1.3 million in Net Zero Atlantic for geothermal projects in the Mi'kmaw and rural communities of Nova Scotia.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Member of Parliament for Sydney–Victoria Jaime Battiste, on behalf of the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, has announced that the Government of Canada will invest over CAD 1.3 million in Net Zero Atlantic for the Community Geothermal Resource Capacity Assessment and Training Program (GeoCAT).
The project will build development capacity for mid-depth geothermal energy–based projects in five Mi’kmaw and twelve rural communities in Nova Scotia.
Working with Mi’kmaw groups, the Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources and the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq, as well as local communities, the GeoCAT program will transfer geothermal resource and project development knowledge to local community representatives, who will assess community-specific infrastructure and interest in geothermal project development. The community representatives, with supporting project development expertise, will then teach interested residents how such projects can be achieved in their communities.
Net Zero Atlantic, the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq and the Government of Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources and Renewables are also contributing to the project, bringing the total investment to over $1.4 million.
This investment demonstrates the Government of Canada’s commitment to developing cleaner electricity supplies. Projects that seek to explore and modernize geothermal technologies to lower emissions by creating greener electrical grids will help Canada achieve a net-zero-emitting electricity system by 2035 while meeting the country’s ambitious climate targets.
In 2021, Net Zero Atlanic prepared a technical report on “Direct Use of Geothermal Heat in Nova Scotia.” This report was presented to the Offshore Energy Research Association (OERA) following a request for proposals for the topic. The report highlighted the opportunities in the region both for geothermal direct use and power generation, particularly from sedimentary basins.
Source: Government of Canada
