Government of Alberta announces plan for Provincial geothermal energy policy and legislation10/7/2020
 The Government of Alberta announced that it is set to have discussions with stakeholders and introduce Provincial geothermal legislation this fall. This will create greater policy and regulatory certainty for the geothermal industry, investors, and Albertans.
Borealis CEO and Canadian Geothermal Energy Association (CanGEA) Chair, Alison Thompson, says: "The Government of Alberta’s support for the geothermal industry through the introduction of regulations and policies will create new opportunities for the energy sector, while also allowing Alberta to integrate renewable resources into the existing energy industry. CanGEA believes that Alberta has tremendous accessible geothermal resources suitable for district heating and other space heating opportunities spread throughout the province. Some locations can also support electricity projects. CanGEA applauds the Alberta government’s leadership in developing regulations and policies that will allow industry to deliver social, economic, and environmental results to Albertans and all of Canada." Read more: Government of Alberta Press Release  Borealis projects with Kitselas Geothermal Inc. and the Village of Valemount are proudly featured in a media brief on geothermal energy and its potential in Canada.
Read More: https://cleanenergycanada.org/media-brief-geothermal-energy-and-its-potential-in-canada/  Borealis was mentioned in an article discussing the development of the geothermal industry in Canada.
Read More: https://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/is-the-geothermal-energy-industry-in-canada-gaining-ground/  Borealis would like to thank the BC Oil and Gas Commission and the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD) for working together to take this step to streamline the geothermal activity permitting process in BC.
Read more: www.bcogc.ca/news/geothermal-application-process-streamlined-ib-2020-06/  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.” |
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