It was an announcement that could have a big impact on our region for years to come.
The provincial government announced on Monday that it was investing $175,000 into the proposed geothermal demonstration project near Estevan. It’s not a large sum of money when you consider the multi-million dollar projected cost, but it is an encouraging sign for the people that have trying to raise the necessary capital to proceed.
After all, it wouldn’t be prudent for the government to invest in geothermal if the concept was unfeasible. Money pits cost governments votes and potentially earn them a Teddy Award nomination from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
We’ve long been intrigued by the potential of geothermal energy in the Estevan area, and we’re not the only ones. It’s not just because it would be in the Estevan area, and it’s not just because the company responsible for the project, DEEP Earth Energy Production, is led by former Estevan resident Kirsten Marcia.
This project is intriguing because of the potential associated with geothermal energy, and its ability to be a clean, renewable, baseload power source.
When you talk about renewable power sources, such as solar and wind, you have to remember that at this stage, they can only be complimentary options, rather than baseload sources. When the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, they’re not going to produce power.
But geothermal is another story. As Marcia said when she appeared at the Estevan Energy Expo in 2014, if the source for geothermal, namely the Earth’s core, ever cools off, then we have a greater problem than issues related to geothermal power.
Canada has been late to the party when it comes to geothermal power. It’s proven to be a reliable source of baseload power elsewhere in the world, including the U.S. Our focus has been on solar and wind, despite their limitations.
That’s not to say we shouldn’t have solar or wind power, but we also have to recognize that those are not options at this time for baseload power.
If geothermal does proceed in this area, and if it can grow beyond the demonstration project level, then it could also be a boost for this area during a time of uncertainty. The federal government wants conventional coal power out of the equation by 2030, and there’s no guarantee that the provincial government will retrofit the remaining coal-fired power units with carbon capture and storage technology.
The DEEP Earth project will be relatively small at first, with just five megawatts of power. And it still has a ways to go before it is ready to begin production.
But it’s encouraging to see that the government is on board with geothermal power, and they are beginning to recognize the potential that many of us have seen in DEEP Earth for some time.
