Corporate Knights editor, Tyler Hamilton, recently featured CanGEA in an article "Geothermal industry reaches out to out-of-work oil drillers," highlighting the opportunity created by the downturn in the Canada's oil patch. The decline in drilling prices, which typically make up approximately 30 percent of a geothermal project's budget, has brought down the high upfront costs of a geothermal project to approximately 15 percent. This makes initiating a geothermal project in Canada more favourable than ever before. Additionally, a geothermal project creates a demand for drillers and other oil & gas service providers. This could help put some of Canada's oil patch employees back to work, which as predicted by the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors could reach 23,000 this year. You can read the full article on this mutually beneficial relationship by following this link.

CanGEA re-released our Alberta Geothermal Favourability Maps and Resource Estimates on Monday, February 9, 2015. To coincide with this re-release is our report: "Un-Natural Gas: Alberta's Dirty Substitute for Geothermal"

At a press conference and technical briefing that took place on February 4th, 2015 at 11am PST, CanGEA presented new information on the cost of geothermal energy and its benefits. We revealed the geothermal unit energy cost to be $56-$73/MWh. This new, cost-competitive figure, combined with various additional benefits, including an increase in permanent jobs and reduced transmission costs, makes geothermal a positive alternative the the Site C hydro dam. Geothermal power also boasts a much smaller environmental footprint than large hydro power, and enjoys the support of First Nations in the region, unlike the Site C project. 

Click here to read the full news release.

At the Site C Final Investment Decision technical briefing, Minister Bennett unequivocally rejected geothermal:

...there is no possible way that geothermal could be the answer to our prayers at the present time...


CanGEA is unable to confirm how Minister Bennett reached this conclusion - the supporting research and analysis has not been made public. CanGEA has presented critical new research, that the BC government has chosen to ignore. We contend that geothermal 

• Is competitive with the updated Site C cost to ratepayers,
• addresses First Nations concerns and
• provides many other benefits to communities compared to Site C

The United States and Mexico are world leaders in geothermal energy and 23 other nations take advantage of this clean energy source. On Wednesday, February 4, 2015 at 11am PST, CanGEA will be presenting a technical briefing on the benefits of low cost geothermal energy compared to the Site C Dam. To inquire about attending in person or via teleconference, email info@cangea.ca.