Why a Sask. geothermal project may be 'globally transformative'
A geothermal power project in southeast Saskatchewan is set to begin construction in late 2023.
DEEP Earth Energy Production Corp. announced that the strategy for its geothermal power project in southeast Saskatchewan has been finalized.
Field construction on the 25 megawatt power plant is expected to begin in Q3 of 2023 while construction of the surface facilities and drilling are set to start in Q4, the company said in a news release.
DEEP, an energy firm based in Saskatoon, has been testing the feasibility of geothermal energy in the southeast for several years, drilling several test wells in the area from 2018 to 2021.
The company’s first facility includes a five megawatt power purchase agreement with SaskPower.
The facility is set to be built in two phases with five megawatts being available in the first phase and another 20 megawatts being added in the second.
The company has stated its long term goal is to eventually produce 200 megawatts of power using several geothermal plants in southeast Saskatchewan.
Power production is estimated to be underway by the summer of 2024, the release explained.
Twenty five megawatts has the ability to power around 25,000 households.
The project is anticipated to be the first of its kind in the province and the country.
"Geothermal power generation has the capacity to provide renewable, reliable baseload energy (24/7), and the DEEP project in Saskatchewan is anticipated to be the first Canadian, 100 per cent naturally sourced geothermal power facility," the company said in its release.
It also said its use of oil and gas drilling techniques to create a renewable energy supply "may be globally transformative."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
W5 Investigates | How did a healthy teen die at a minor hockey camp?
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.

Donald Trump's call for protests gets muted reaction by supporters
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's calls for protests ahead of his anticipated indictment in New York have generated mostly muted reactions from supporters, with even some of his most ardent loyalists dismissing the idea as a waste of time or a law enforcement trap.
House to debate Conservative interference motion calling Telford and others to testify as part of new study
In an effort to keep the foreign interference story at the forefront, and to do an apparent endrun around the Liberal filibuster blocking one study from going ahead, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is forcing MPs to debate and then vote on a motion instructing an opposition-dominated House committee to strike its own review.
6 missing after Old Montreal fire 'probably still in the rubble': Police
Officials are still looking for victims after a fire ripped through a building in Old Montreal last week, killing at least one person. At a press conference Monday morning, spokespersons for the Montreal police and Montreal fire department said six people are still missing. They come from various locations in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S.
opinion | Biden's Canada visit is long overdue and so are the issues facing the North American neighbours: expert
Questions abound as to why U.S. President Biden is only now making the visit to Canada, more than two years into his presidency.
Woman suing Tim Hortons for $500K after hot tea spill left her 'disfigured'
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
China's Xi meeting Putin in boost for isolated Russia leader
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is due to meet with Vladimir Putin in a political boost for the isolated Russian president after the International Criminal Court charged him with war crimes in Ukraine.
Air passenger complaints triple in one year to pass 42,000 as backlog grows
The number of air passenger complaints to Canada's transport regulator is soaring, more than tripling to 42,000 over the past year.
Trails of human bacteria from sneezing and coughing preserved on Mount Everest: study
Even at one of the tallest natural peaks on Earth, humans have left their mark in a trail of bacteria as researchers have found germs from coughing and sneezing that have been potentially preserved for centuries on Mount Everest.