Saskatchewan driller hits 'gusher' with ground-breaking geothermal well that offers h

[LEP]

So are some of you suggesting we shut down any geothermal projects and layoff some more workers?

There are a lot of jobs in new technology and clean energy but I guess these jobs aren't as good? Please explain?

Let me guess, in Chuckworld for every 100 jobs there are in drilling and building a geothermal plant, there will be 10 government leaches living off their backs to regulate it.

[chuckChuck]

If there are no regulations and regulators that would be good LEP. We can put one in your front yard then?

[LEP]

If there are no regulations and regulators that would be good LEP. We can put one in your front yard then?

Yay, in chuckie's world, economic growth is growth in government payroll. That is the sign of someone who has the pulse of vibrant economy.

Disclaimer: Sarcasm.

By the way, my house on the farm is about 60 ft from the centre line of the road. It was there before the road was built. But they should never have been able to build a secondary highway there when a yard was established prior to any regulations.

So don't talk to me about regulation.

[Happytrails]

They don’t have to find water...

That’s why old oil wells can be converted to geothermal. You’re drilling deep for the heat, not water.

Geothermal always depends on water to transfer the heat.

[Guest]

Geothermal always depends on water to transfer the heat.

could be wrong , but i think the referral is that oil wells water out at the end of their life, usually what finishes them or makes a new well unfeasible , water is everywhere

[Blaithin]

Geothermal always depends on water to transfer the heat.

Not really, but the system will depend on the goal. A closed loop system is usually the most common for temperature use and while water can be used, usually it's not.

Electricity production is about the only type of geothermal to date that focuses on finding a large reservoir which is why it's so extra expensive to set up.

Can't group all geothermal together as needing to drill to find water.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Geothermal cannot even be compared with wind or solar. It produces useful energy.
One word, dispatchable. Geothermal is in the same league as coal, gas, nuclear, hydro.
It can produce useful reliable dispatchable energy(electricity in this case) which a modern industrialized society requires ( and expects) to function, with no deleterious ( or expensive) effects on the reliability of the grid.

If it can be done at a cost that compares to the other dispatchable electricity generation sources is not as certain. But what can be certain, is that the generation cost that it is sold to the grid for, is the entire cost, unlike the unreliable sources which cause a cascade of higher costs all the way to the end consumer, regardless of any uninformed and ignorant claims of being cheapest.

The energy potential is massive, and it exists virtually anywhere, the environmental footprint (and above ground footprint) is insignificant, the required technology is all existing off the shelf type stuff ( and much of it home grown, and mature enough to be very cost effective), the sustainability is not in doubt, just the full life cycle EROEI that needs to be proven.

The shallow residential type geothermal systems which were becoming popular back when nat gas was expensive, and electrity was affordable, nearly all got turned off when gas got cheap, and electricity became artificially high. It took more dollars worth of energy to pump the fluid than came out the other end. On paper, these deep systems have a much higher EROEI, but there is also the issue that the temperature gradient declines over time. Time will tell. I'm optimistic.

[Hamloc]

Brooks solar farm is a 15 megawatt facility that cost $30 million to build. This geothermal project is a 20 megawatt facility with a projected total cost of $51 million dollars. One uses hardware built in China, the other uses hardware and technology built primarily in Canada. One produces intermittent power that requires a second generation source to produce power 24 hrs a day, the other produces electricity 24 hrs a day all on its own. Which one makes more sense?

[chuckChuck]

Both make sense when part of a smart grid and used strategically.

Canada has a tremendous hydro resources but many provinces are not using surplus hydro from Quebec, Manitoba and BC. Instead our grids are designed to export surplus hydro electricity to the US instead of other provinces.

Geo thermal may prove to be a great option but that should not stop us from putting lots of solar and wind capacity where it makes sense.

Even fossil fuel plants don't run all the time and are shut down for maintenance and rebuilding and sometimes equipment failure.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

When conventional (reliable) generation plants are shut down for maintenance, upgrades etc. They have to schedule that work months to years in advance, so the regulator can plan accordingly. Only 2 generation sources can shut down with zero notice. Yet be paid the same, as if each has the same value to a grid which is expected to have 100% uptime.

When solar and wind have a non zero number in the DCR - Dispatched (and Accepted) Contingency Reserve column and are doing so at prices that are still competitive with sources which are required to have a non zero amount of DCR, then we can compare apples to apples.

[chuckChuck]

Sask power must have this figured out. They are adding significant wind and backing up with more Manitoba hydro and new gas plants. And our farm rates are still probably going to be cheaper than Alberta's privatized system.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Brooks solar farm is a 15 megawatt facility that cost $30 million to build. This geothermal project is a 20 megawatt facility with a projected total cost of $51 million dollars. One uses hardware built in China, the other uses hardware and technology built primarily in Canada. One produces intermittent power that requires a second generation source to produce power 24 hrs a day, the other produces electricity 24 hrs a day all on its own. Which one makes more sense?

Except it is much worse than the numbers indicate.
From the NEB:

National Energy Board has calculated capacity for areas where Alberta has potential utility-scale solar and indicates the capacity factors range from 13% in Collin Lake to 18% at Peigan Timber.

Using the average of that would make Brooks a 2.325 MW facility by output, rather than nameplate, up to $13 million per MW capacity.
Assume 90% uptime on the geothermal, would be $2.8 million per MW capacity.
Not clear if the output of the geothermal is net, including energy required for pumping etc?