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Mr. Tim Thompson, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Borealis Geopower
Tim has the extensive business knowledge and experience to help Borealis GeoPower become a major player in the field of geothermal energy project consulting. Mr. Thompson has over 11 years of corporate strategy consulting with Booz & Co. and CRA International; 8 years in the Pipeline business, covering Facilities Planning, Regulatory, Budgets, and Major projects for TransCanada and Union Gas; and 7 years of public and private board experience.
His diverse educational background includes BSCE Physics (Queens), BA in Philosophy (Dalhousie), and MBA (Queen’s). Recently, Mr. Thompson was the lead author of the Geothermal Policy Best Practices in 2009, and has been the economic advisor to BC’s Minister of Energy, Mines, and Petroleum Resources (MEMPR) Geothermal Energy Task Force.
Dr. Daniel Yang (nee Pribnow), Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Borealis GeoPower
Dr. Daniel Yang (nee Pribnow), Co-Founder and Chief Reservoir Specialist of Borealis GeoPower, is a globally acclaimed leader in the geothermal energy engineering field. Owning more than 20 years of experience leading large-scale international exploration and development programs in the oil & gas industry and an in geothermal sectors, combined with a Doctorate in Geophysics, Dr. Yang is a recognized Subject Matter Expert in advanced thermal recovery and is committed to delivering both the physical sub-surface expertise and operational strategies for geothermal exploration projects across Canada.
For the first 5 years after he completed his undergraduate studies in Geophysics at the Technical University of Berlin, Dr. Yang was heavily involved in academic scientific research, providing technical expertise for both pure research projects (temperature at crust-mantle boundary) and field reservoir engineering projects (fractured geothermal reservoir in granitic basement). As a Senior Reservoir Engineer at the Institute for Joint Geoscientific Research, he was able to participate in the pioneer utilization of the Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) technology to generate electricity on an economic scale. He also refined his skills in physical and chemical sub-surface processes. Among his considerable achievements in this capacity, he served as a custodian for the Global Heat Flow Data Base and as a Member of the International Heat Flow Commission (IHFC).
Dr. Yang was engaged by Shell as a Senior Reservoir Engineer in 2000 to support the company’s geothermal team with an EGS pilot in Nicaragua and a Joint Venture with the commercial EGS project in Soultz, France. He quickly developed the expertise to lead the evaluation of EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) options globally for a large number of the company’s international E&P assets.
From 2005 to 2010, he held the technical lead in Shell Canada, piloting classified thermal recovery methods and maturing large scale conventional thermal developments of Shell’s oil sand assets in Canada, with core responsibility for numerical simulations, regulatory compliance reserves booking, staff training & development, and economic optimization. He led a geothermal analysis and interpretation that resulted in a proposal for the Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI) to use large scale EGS in Shell’s oil sand mines. This included generating new data by re-entering an existing deep well for borehole measurements.
In late 2010, Dr. Yang decided to join Canadian Natural Resources to build and lead a team of reservoir engineers for cyclic steam bitumen extraction (CSS). He oversees more than 700 wells producing 100,000 bbl/d, and continuously optimizes operations. Furthermore, he leads the assessment and implementation of a follow-up process to CSS for maximizing recovery.
In 2007, Dr. Yang partnered the launch of Borealis GeoPower to supply business and technical support for the Canadian energy industry’s geothermal exploration projects. Since then he has provided consultative leadership for 30$MM exploration projects, including a co-production project funded by the Alberta Energy Institute (AEI). He was elected as a member of the US Department of Energy reviewing committee to provide sub-surface technical leadership for their research proposals on Enhanced Geothermal Systems. He is an active member of the Geothermal Reporting and Reserves Committee (sponsored by the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association, CanGEA) developing a code for public reporting of geothermal resources and reserves in Canada.
Augmenting his extensive professional accomplishments, Dr. Yang has taught Geothermics, Geophysics, and Thermal Recovery courses at various academic institutions including Shell Open University, University of Calgary, University of Utah, and the Universities of Leipzig and Heidelberg, in Germany. He also has reports, publications, and patents on the insights and methods of industry best practices and achieved the single highest rating out of 900 individuals in the 2008 annual ranking for Unconventional Oil in Shell. In 2008, he was nominated as a Subject Matter Expert, which solidified his status as a global technical expert in oil & gas exploration.
As one of the leading forces behind Borealis, Dr. Yang is dedicated to paving the way for the development of commercially viable geothermal energy in Canada. His expertise spans Geothermal Energy Exploration & Production Operational Planning, Sub-Surface Physical & Chemical Processes, Complex Numerical Simulations, EGS Technologies, Reservoir Performance Evaluation and Unconventional Energy Recovery.
Mr. Craig Dunn P.Geol, Chief Geologist of Borealis Geopower
Craig is a pioneer leader in geothermal energy exploration and development initiatives in Canada. With over 9 years experience in geological consultations, Mr. Dunn supplies both the project management and geological expertise for the Canadian energy industry’s efforts on developing high temperature geothermal energy from untapped resources.
A passionate outdoorsman, Mr. Dunn laid the foundations for his career as a leader in exploration geology when he completed a thesis project with DeBeers Canada, a diamond exploration company, in Canada’s Northern Communities while obtaining his B.Sc. degree in Geology at the University of Manitoba. Working with ARC Inc, Mr. Dunn conducted environmental audits and remediation work for the energy industry in Alberta and BC. He is president of WellDunn Consulting, a geological consulting firm for the oil and gas industry in both conventional and unconventional oil and gas applications and multiple geothermal exploration projects in the US and the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. His work and research in geothermal energy include geological structural and temperature mapping, drilling rock analysis and reporting, and geothermal resource prospecting (using GIS based mapping and field techniques) in both the US and Western Canada.
Mr. Dunn was also one of key personnel involved with the resurgence of the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association: in 2007 he was on the board of directors and most recently acted as Outreach Director and 2009 Conference Chair. His work has helped to establish CanGEA’s education program, helped to promote a national study for geothermal potential in Canada and co-authored the Geothermal Policy Best Practices (2009). Moving forward with his goal for power production from geothermal energy resource in Canada, Mr. Dunn will be continuing his work in resource exploration and development.
Alison Thompson, Chairman of the Board of Borealis Geopower
As one of Canada’s foremost champions of geothermal energy, Alison Thompson is paving the way for the Canadian energy sector to capitalize on a large, untapped resource of renewable energy. A Chemical Engineer with dual Master’s degrees in business administration and engineering, Ms. Thompson has dedicated a substantial part of her career to investigating and demonstrating the technical and commercial viability of high enthalpy geothermal energy. In 2007, Ms. Thompson took the reins as Executive Director and Chair of the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association (CanGEA), where she is building this non-profit organization into a respected and influential assembly of industry representatives advocating for the development and commercialization of Canada’s geothermal energy resources. In a country currently lacking a viable geothermal energy alternative, Ms. Thompson is ensuring CanGEA raises awareness for geothermal energy as competitive, emissions-free, renewable base-load energy. Working with policymakers at various levels to further bring to fruition legislation promoting geothermal energy development and a range of incentives, she continues to work tirelessly to unlock the resource and remove existing policy barriers and hurdles. Ms. Thompson also works closely with the investment community to help increase the profile of geothermal developers. As the lead spokesperson for CanGEA, Alison participates in media interviews and is a frequent speaker at various events at home and abroad.
With 20 years of experience in project management, business development and technology deployment in the North American energy sector, Ms. Thompson brings an impressive record of accomplishments in the evaluation of new technologies against triple bottom-line criteria of economic, social and environmental benefits. She utilizes management skills to act as a change agent and visionary to provide influence at the highest levels of organizations. She has an enviable record of moving new business opportunities to the Board for approval. Ms. Thompson has served on the Board of Directors of Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada, and is an external evaluator for the BC Innovation Council’s Innovative Clean Energy Fund. Internationally, she was a stakeholder in the European Union’s Enhanced Geothermal Innovative Network for Europe (ENGINE) consortium, and has a seat on the Executive Committee of the International Energy Agency’s Geothermal Implementing Agreement. Ms. Thompson holds Bachelor and Master of Chemical Engineering degrees from McGill University, a Professional Engineering designation from APEGGA, a U.S. Engineer Intern designation, as well as a Master of Business Administration degree from Queen’s University.
Ms. Thompson is Vice President, Corporate Relations of a major geothermal and renewable energy industry player, Alterra Power (formerly Magma Energy).
