Construction of the geothermal power plant of DEEP in Saskatchewan, Canada is expected to commence by Q3 2023 and start operations by summer 2024.
This project is perhaps one of the best global analogies for large scale hot sedimentary aquifer projects similar to Strike Energy's Mid West geothermal project in the North Perth Basin in Western Australia.
DEEP Earth Energy Production Corp. (DEEP) has achieved a major milestone with the completion of a strategy for the engineering, construction, and commissioning of the company’s first geothermal project in southeast Saskatchewan, Canada. With this development, engineering and procurement activities have commenced in preparation of licensing and permitting by Q1 2023 and field construction planned for Q3 2023.
The facility will be constructed in two phases – 5 MW followed by an additional 20 MW in the same location. A 5-MW power purchase agreement with SaskPower had been signed for this facility.
Production and injection wells are planned to be drilled to a depth of approximately 3.5 kilometres and horizontally for an additional 3 kilometres. Surface facility construction and drilling are planned to commence in Q4, 2023 with first power production estimated by summer 2024.
Meanwhile, field work for a 56.2-sq. kilometer 3D seismic program has commenced and projected to be completed in March. Data will be utilized for horizontal well trajectory planning on the eastern half of the first well array and for future expansion planning.
The subsurface geological reservoir model predicts that the well spacing for the first 25 MW field development will utilize only 10% of DEEP’s entire subsurface lease that covers 39,568 hectares (97,775 acres). This large subsurface lease is anticipated to support the build-out of multiple power facilities greater than 200 MW. Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology will be used for the power plant.
DEEP’s “ribcage” layout and geothermal well field design are leading edge and may be a globally transformative application of modern oil and gas drilling and completions techniques, which will be applied for the first time on a renewable energy project. Wells with equivalent depth, lateral length and step out are routinely drilled in the hydrocarbon resource plays of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and DEEP will be leveraging this local knowledge and drilling capability.
The well design also incorporates learnings from DEEP’s 5 vertical and 1 horizontal test wells drilled from 2018 – 2021. To help prevent corrosion, all wells are engineered to be completed with carbon steel tubing that incorporates a non-metallic coating.
GeothermEx (SLB) has begun a final review of DEEP’s geothermal resource. GeothermEx’s due diligence has resulted in more than 8.5 GW of geothermal power and related investments exceeding USD $14 billion dollars.
In addition to geothermal power production and with proper regulatory approvals, the DEEP subsurface lease contains separate stratigraphic intervals that are anticipated to have the characteristics necessary for CO2 storage. DEEP is exploring strategic CO2 storage opportunities in efforts to develop a major multi-use CO2 storage field.