 In July 2020, Borealis GeoPower’s technical team successfully completed a 3-week magnetotelluric survey at Kitselas Geothermal Inc.'s Lakelse property.
Thoughtful planning, hard work and seamless collaboration made this survey possible, and Borealis GeoPower would like to thank Phoenix Geophysics for their ongoing support.  Fran Yanor of the Rocky Mountain Goat newspaper in Valemount, BC reported on Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond engaging in a BC legislative committee debate about geothermal heating energy with BC's Minister of Energy, Mines, and Petroleum Resources, Bruce Ralston.
Borealis, the Village of Valemount, and MLA Shirley Bond continue to advocate for the use of geothermal energy for heating and cooling in the Province of BC. Read more.  Borealis was profiled in CRIN's July Newsletter as a member company.
The Clean Resource Innovation Network (CRIN) is a group of forward-thinking oil and gas industry professionals, innovators, financiers, policy makers, incubators & accelerators, academics and students committed to the success of the hydrocarbon energy sector, the people and communities that it touches, and a strong, carbon-competitive and diversified Canadian economy. As an Alberta-based geothermal energy company, Borealis is a proud CRIN member. “Geothermal energy shares many synergies with the oil and gas industry – all the way from the need to secure a good land position to the use of innovative subsurface and facilities technologies,” - Alison Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of Borealis. Borealis is proud to diversify the Canadian economy while utilizing the technology, skills, and experience that the Canadian oil and gas industry has developed to date. Learn more about CRIN, and consider joining the network, here.
An update on Kitselas Geothermal Inc., a Borealis project under development with majority partner Kitselas Development Corp, was featured in the Terrace Standard, a local newspaper, and on ThinkGeoEnergy, a geothermal energy industry news website.
Please Note: There are no plans to generate electricity from the Kitselas Geothermal Inc. project, as could be inferred from the articles linked above.  Borealis would like to congratulate our CEO & President, Alison Thompson, recipient of The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) Centennial Leadership Award for her work spearheading the growth of Geothermal Energy in Canada. See APEGA's backgrounder on Alison and the Centennial Leadership Award, below. Centennial Leadership Award – Alison Thompson, P.Eng.
This award is presented to members of APEGA who have attained the highest distinction relating to engineering or geoscience through directorship of an outstanding project, original research or inventions, or an exemplary career in teaching. Alison Thompson, P.Eng., grew up in Pickering, Ontario, less than two kilometres from one of the world’s largest nuclear power stations. In the 1970s, the plant had an interpretative centre where she spent many happy hours. “I’d ride my bike there after school and on the weekends,” she remembers. “For the longest time, I thought I’d be a nuclear engineer.” In the end, Ms. Thompson didn’t become a nuclear engineer: she earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in chemical engineering from McGill University. In the summers, she worked for conventional energy companies in Alberta. One job in particular—at the Waterton Gas Complex in Pincher Creek— set the tone for the rest of her career. “After two weeks, my boss went on vacation and gave me the keys. He said, ‘OK, you run the sulphur plant now,’” shares Ms. Thompson. It was a rare opportunity to report to the superintendent, understand plant operations, and develop empathy for front-line workers. The experience came in handy after graduation, when she held field engineer roles at a Kansas coal utility and then a Suncor gas plant back in Alberta. After taking a break to earn a master’s degree in business administration at Queen’s University in 2001, Ms. Thompson became a technology manager at Suncor. There, she worked on her first geothermal energy project and was exposed to the many legal and regulatory hurdles facing the burgeoning industry. She began speaking to government to cut some of the red tape. It became clear to Ms. Thompson that the industry needed an advocacy organization, so she co- founded the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association in 2007, which has removed countless industry roadblocks. The next year, she launched her own company—Borealis GeoPower—to steward greater adoption of geothermal energy in the country. Since then, the industry has grown in leaps and bounds, due in large part to her leadership. Ms. Thompson’s business has also thrived, but she doesn’t measure success in dollars. One of her current projects is a collaboration with the Kitselas First Nation near Terrace, British Columbia. Called Fuel for Reconciliation, the project will provide the emerging liquefied natural gas supply chain with cleaner fuel options. Another project, called Sustainaville, near Valemount, British Columbia, will also provide cleaner fuel options to a community that has some of the worst air quality in the province. “These sorts of projects are long and difficult to do, and cost a lot of money,” she explains. “I want there to be a big bang for the buck, not just for the company, but for the communities. But above all, we want to use the company as a force for good.”
Borealis's Kitselas Geothermal Inc. project in Terrace, BC was recognized in today's Globe and Mail as a 2020 #Clean50 Top Project.
View the page in the Report on Business section of the Globe and Mail, here.  Borealis GeoPower proudly celebrates Earth Day 2020. On April 22nd, and every other day, we can change our habits, and we can do our part to prepare Canada's economy for the clean growth future.
Canadians know that the rapid deployment of all forms of renewable energy is a dependable path to a cleaner future. Meanwhile, renewable energies create far more jobs-per-dollar invested, and renewable energies can already provide the lowest cost electricity and heat generation for Canadian businesses and homes. Public investment in renewable energies, such as geothermal energy, will unlock further private investment. On this Earth Day, we ask that the Federal Government provide the Canadian Infrastructure Bank with the flexibility that they need to invest in renewable and non-emitting district energy projects. Doing so would result in the benefits described above, as well as add resilience to our energy system, preparing our homes, business, and communities for the turbulence that lies ahead. Borealis GeoPower is proud to be a part of the #Clean50 initiative to offer ideas for a #CleanReset for Canada's economy. It is more important than ever for Canadians to unite and build a stronger, more inclusive and more resilient country. Canada has the tools, the technology, and the people for a happier, healthier and more prosperous and resilient future. Read and share the Clean50 #CleanReset Initiative letter, here. We are proud to announce that Borealis won the Transformation Advocate Award at the Inaugural BC Cleantech Awards hosted by Foresight Cleantech Accelerator Centre! The awards were presented on February 11th, 2020 at Globe 2020 in Vancouver, BC. A statement by Borealis's CEO and President, Alison Thompson, on this award: "To have been even considered as a finalist alongside industry giants LNG Canada, FortisBC, and Lafarge Holcim is an honour. Together, we will continue to use our business as a force for good to move Canada toward a healthy and sustainable future. We would like to thank all of our stakeholders who have kept moving us forward, so that we can move industry, technology, and communities forward."  Nowadays, we take heating and cooling conveniences for granted with the simple turn of a thermometer dial for industrial, commercial and residential heating and refrigeration needs.
A material amount of British Columbia’s energy use could be substituted with geothermal heat. Borealis is leading the cleantech utility industry transformation via district heating projects in Valemount and Terrace, industrial cooling solutions for the burgeoning LNG industry near Kitimat with our First Nations joint venture partner, and active participation in British Columbia Utilities Commission hearings that are shaping the way Indigenous Utilities, Municipal Utilities, and Thermal Energy Systems serve communities and industry while supporting the Province’s CleanBC mandate. Update (March 23, 2020): Letter from the MP for Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies.
 Today, Dr. Megan Eyre presented at the New Zealand Geothermal Workshop in Auckland! Her presentation showcased the drone-based technology that BGP is using to explore for geothermal energy in Canada.
BGP is continuously transferring technology to the geothermal space from other industries. This paper speaks to the effectiveness of using drone technology to perform geothermal geophysical surveys, as a component of our Optimized Geothermal and Element (OGE) exploration technology. Megan won the 2019 Women in Geothermal / Seequent Visibility Scholarship for her role in our research using drone-based technology. Once Megan arrived at BGP, she performed the magnetic interpretation of the drone-survey data. Megan also went into the field to ground-truth the anomalies. BGP would like to thank everyone involved in the drone-based research and exploration campaign for their hard work and dedication. Click here to learn more about our geothermal consulting services and our OGE exploration technology. |
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Borealis GeoPower is headquartered in Moh’kins’tsis, the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) name for the place we now call Calgary, located in the Treaty 7 region and the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (including the Siksika, Piikani and Kainai First Nations), the Tsuut’ina First Nation, and the Stoney Nakoda (including the Chiniki, Bearspaw and Wesley First Nations). The City of Calgary is also home to Métis Nation of Alberta, Region III.
BOREALIS GEOPOWER has operations on the traditional, unceded territory of the people of the kitselas First Nation. the kitselas people are part of the larger tsimshian nation whose traditional language is sm'algyax. kitselas means "people of the canyon" in sm'algyax. the kitselas First Nation has been archaeologically documented to occupy the kitselas canyon, east of terrace (british columbia) on the skeena river, for at least 5000 years.
We are grateful to the past, present and future stewards of this land.
BOREALIS GEOPOWER has operations on the traditional, unceded territory of the people of the kitselas First Nation. the kitselas people are part of the larger tsimshian nation whose traditional language is sm'algyax. kitselas means "people of the canyon" in sm'algyax. the kitselas First Nation has been archaeologically documented to occupy the kitselas canyon, east of terrace (british columbia) on the skeena river, for at least 5000 years.
We are grateful to the past, present and future stewards of this land.
ContactPO Box 668, Station M
Calgary, Alberta T2P 2J3 |
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