ThinkGeoEnergy – Geothermal Energy News

Power utility contributes $2 million to Saskatchewan geothermal project

Canadian developer DEEP Earth Energy Production receives funding in the amount of $2 million for a power front end engineering and design study for its geothermal power project in Saskatchewan.

In an announcement yesterday, Canadian geothermal developer DEEP Earth Energy Production Corp. (DEEP) announced,  “that the Contribution Agreement with SaskPower to fund a $2 Million Front End Engineering Design (FEED) Study on the economic and technical viability of geothermal as a resource for clean electricity generation in southeastern Saskatchewan on a 50/50 basis with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) was signed on July 30, 2013. This news follows a previous announcement made by DEEP on May 3, 2013, that stated that SaskPower was considering this match funding opportunity.

“We are very pleased with SaskPower’s enthusiasm to partner with the Federal Government to co-fund this study to prove out the viability of baseload power generation from these well-known geothermal resources. Both SaskPower’s and NRCan’s support at the early onset of what could be a new industry for our Province and for Canada may be the catalyst to finally put Canada on the map in a firmly established global geothermal power industry. DEEP welcomes SaskPower and NRCan as significant project contributors and looks forward to developing a made-in-Saskatchewan energy solution,” states Kirsten Marcia, President and CEO.

The total budget for the FEED study is approximately $2M and will include well data analysis, reservoir analysis and modelling, preliminary subsurface and surface design, energy yield analysis, environmental planning, land use planning and an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) bid package. The expected completion date is December 2013. GeothermEx, a Schlumberger Company, has been contracted as geothermal project consultants. Schlumberger Carbon Services provided the reservoir modelling and engineering for the Aquistore wells at the Boundary Dam Power Plant for the Petroleum and Technology Research Council (PTRC) and, in continuation of their work, have been engaged to perform reservoir analysis.

With a positive outcome of the FEED study, it is DEEP’s intention to pursue a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with SaskPower, specific to the geothermal resources in Southeast Saskatchewan. It is DEEP’s hope that if the FEED study proves successful, this would create the opportunity to develop multiple geothermal plants over the next decade. DEEP has commenced with arranging the required financing in addition to submitting a funding proposal to NRCan in September for full project build-out.

Source: Company release

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