Geothermal energy is a renewable baseload source of thermal and electrical power. It has the potential to supply tens of gigawatts of electrical and terawatts of thermal power to communities and industrial developments throughout Western Canada. A mature geothermal energy industry will diversify the use of existing oil and gas infrastructure; provide oil and gas field service providers, including drillers, with additional revenue streams; and fuel an expansion of Canada’s manufacturing and export portfolios.

Despite Canada’s large geothermal resource base, and the potential for this resource to support a variety peripheral economic development opportunities, Canada currently has no installed geothermal power capacity. The goal of the Future Energy Systems research in geothermal energy is to produce scientific, engineering, economic, environmental and social research in support of three specific types of geothermal power applications available to Canadians:

• Direct–use of geothermal energy as heat
• Electricity production from the deep basin using low and Ultra–Low Temperature Differential (ULTD) heat engines
• Enhanced geothermal energy recovery from hydrothermal systems and crystalline rocks

We have assembled a consortium of industry, governmental and academic partners to realize the goal of facilitating at least one pilot-scale demonstration of each of these three types of geothermal technologies. Our research program is divided into the 3 main areas:

• The Resource (Natural Sciences): Locating, evaluating, accessing and predicting the performance of geothermal reservoirs in various geologic settings
• The Exploitation (Engineering): Adopting technology for producing geothermal energy and distributing it as useful thermal and electrical power
• The Outcomes (Social Sciences): Determining the regulatory, economic, environmental and sociological pathways toward, and impacts of, utilizing geothermal energy in Canada

Our research program contains 4 projects spread across these three main themes. The program is scheduled to run for 7 years, with a major stage gate for continued funding after Year 3. The total budget for the program is ~$11.5 million that shall be split between Future Energy Systems (FES), the Government of Alberta (GOA) and industry partners, who may further leverage funds through NSERC.