INNOVATION March-April 2019

the plant. While the price is not competitive with other forms of clean power produced here in BC (it is a good price elsewhere), the Fort Nelson First Nation decided they would like to pursue the idea further. “In a place like Fort Nelson, there are limited wind and solar resources, and hydro opportunities are located a long way away and off grid,” says John Ebell. “Right now, Fort Nelson First Nation is 100 percent dependent on a thermal gas-fired electrical grid.” A project manager with Nanaimo’s Barkley Project Group, Ebell is working with the Fort Nelson First Nation to pursue the possibility of re-purposing the Clarke Lake field as a geothermal development that will not only provide a source of base- load clean electricity to the gas-fired grid, but also make by-product heat available to spur the creation of a range of new commercial enterprises such as greenhouses, forest processing, and spas. “Fort Nelson’s economy is depressed,” says Ebell. “Oil and gas has largely left the area. There are people who have had to walk away from their homes. A geothermal plant would mean a lot of professional full-time jobs and help the community remain stable. Developing a viable greenhouse industry could also help with food security.” The First Nelson First Nation has applied to the federal government for help with the next step: a front-end engineering design (FEED) project to develop a detailed design plan, which will include the number of wells and the infrastructure required to produce electricity and heat for Fort Nelson First Nation and the larger Fort Nelson community. Ebell expects the FEED study, if successful, “will then lead to an initial project in the 5-megawatt range.” Fort Nelson First Nation is optimistic that the grant will come through soon, since the federal government recently approved funding for a similar project in southeast Saskatchewan. In addition, the federal and Alberta governments are actively pursuing ways to convert abandoned oil and gas wells near the Rocky Mountain foothills community of Hinton into a geothermal district energy system. If the re-purposing is successful, it may help the province deal with a rapidly growing environmental issue, where cash-strapped oil and gas companies simply walk away rather than cleaning up their sites.

“It’s very exciting,” says Geoscience BC’s Salas, “to think we can go around and re-purpose at least some oil and gas wells, taking a legacy and turning it into something productive.” Even more, says Dr. Catherine Hickson, P.Geo., President of Geothermal Canada, “I think geothermal is on the cusp of becoming a really big thing in BC.” Particularly with the $500,000 Geoscience BC has given to exploring the geothermal potential of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt in 2019, she predicts that “geothermal will soon take its place beside hydro as the two best options to take us to the future. We are going to need more electrons flying through the grid than BC Hydro, even with Site C, will be able to provide in as little as 10 years from now if we want to make the switch to electric cars, buses, and heavy-duty trucks. You can’t just flip a switch and have new power sources when you need them. And, geothermal is just a fantastic energy source.” A fantastic energy source, and—because geothermal plants occupy a far smaller physical footprint than hydroelectric dams, gas fields, or even solar or windmill farms—also a way to preserve more of British Columbia’s glorious countryside. j

I N N O V A T I O N

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 9

2 9