The DEEP Geothermal Power Project: Wildcat Drilling for the Earth’s Heat - Williston Basin (Canada)

The DEEP Earth Energy Production Corp. (“DEEP”) geothermal power project is located in Southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada, a few kilometres north of the United States border. In 2018, DEEP successfully drilled the first geothermal test well. The vertical well reached its target total depth of 3,530 metres (m), the deepest well ever drilled in Saskatchewan’s history. Preliminary data, acquired to assess the geothermal reservoir, indicate bottom-hole temperatures exceeding 125˚C, in addition to positive reservoir pressure and permeability. Final testing results from the drilling program will refine the assumptions made on the reservoir and effectively optimize the design parameters. The DEEP discovery well, Border-01, targeted the early Paleozoic age basal clastic reservoirs of the Winnipeg and Deadwood formations and fractured Precambrian granite. Injection wells for water disposal in Saskatchewan and gas wells in North Dakota demonstrate a basin-scale resource with reservoir characteristics suitable for large fluid production and injection rates, however temperatures greater than 100˚C are only found in the south-easterly most part of Saskatchewan and western North Dakota. The well is unique in that it targets deep hot water in a highly productive oil region. The well has hundreds of horizontal oil wells as neighbours and is located in the renowned Bakken oil trend. Subsequent to the Border-01, four more wells were drilled over the 2019-2020 winter; Border-02A, Border-02B, Border-03 and Border-04. DEEP’s long-term strategy is to build geothermal power facilities along with direct heat applications. This strategy complies with a vision of a cleaner energy future for Saskatchewan. Produced electricity from the first facility will be sold under an existing Power Purchase Agreement with SaskPower. DEEP is exploring additional revenue streams including a commercial greenhouse development, which would be a new opportunity for the Saskatchewan agricultural sector.