The proof is in the paper work yet again. North Pacific Power Corp (NPPC), one of the companies working on the Meager Creek Geothermal Project, announced it had strong evidence of a large, high temperature geothermal reservoir at relatively shallow depth. This backs up an earlier proposal made by GeothermEx, Inc.
President of GeothermEx, Inc., Subir Sanyal, called the technical program "eminently successful" and concluded "the project is now ready for the next step in development, namely drilling of one or two full-diameter confirmation wells."
Sanyal said: "The temperatures measured in the three core holes are significantly higher than in the older wells by 20 to 50 degrees Celsius. The temperature profiles in the core holes indicate the onset of convection at a shallower level than encountered before."
Dr. Mory Ghomshei, a director of NPPC, who has worked on the Meager Creek project since 1983, said: "These are the highest temperatures recorded at comparable depths in diamond drill holes in Canada and confirm the potential for the project as a ‘high-temperature’ field."
A high-temperature field is defined as being 200°C or higher.
The Meager Creek Geothermal Project is held under the only geothermal lease issued in Canada for the commercial production of electricity. The project has an estimated development potential of 200 MW of electricity. Over a projected 25-year production life, 200 MW of production is the energy equivalent of one million barrels of oil per year.
According to NPPC’s report, these latest results opened up the prospect of reaching production targets from drilling pads higher up the mountain than previously thought. Drilling can now be done with vertical or moderately-deviated confirmation wells, making it much cheaper than drilling lower down the mountain. NPPC believe this new information, together with improved access roads and infrastructure, allows selection of the optimum sites for drilling the resource confirmation wells, future production and injection wells, at substantially lower costs.
NPPC believe production-size well drilling will provide critical information on the commercial value of the Meager Creek project and key information for executing a feasibility study. The company intends to conduct a confirmation well program during summer 2003 and is in the process of initiating the planning, design, financing and permitting processes needed.
