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VOL. 26 NO. 50
Geothermal exploration starts soon
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
By ANNA KILLEN
PLANS FOR a geothermal power plant in the Mount Layton Hot Springs area near Terrace are still in the initial stages, but if the project were to proceed as intended, it could generate enough electricity to power close to 10,000 homes. Exploration on the potential for a 15-megawatt geothermal power plant, through a Kitselas First Nation-led consortium that also includes Enbridge and geothermal exploration company Borealis Inc., is set to begin this spring, confirmed Chris Knight, an advisor for Kitselas. “We want to get the exploration program started this field season,” he said. “It’ll take a year so we want to get going as soon as we can.” The consortium purchased exploration rights for $100,000 from the provincial government earlier this year. The exploration process works in three phases. The first is “a series of biochemical analyses, data gathering, modelling, some work that doesn’t require much in the way of surface impact,” he said. The process then moves onto a series of slim-hole drilling initiatives, and if that proves viable, the third phase would be the drilling of a small number of production wells “to determine in full detail the carrying capacity of the resource and its ability to support what we’ve initially targeted as a 15-megawatt geothermal power plant.” A 15-megawatt plant would have a small surface footprint, while still producing a decent amount of electricity, Knight explained. “We wanted it to be modest in terms of size, and we wanted it to be of a size that would lend itself to consideration by the BC Hydro standing offer program,” he said. That program involves independent power projects selling power to BC Hydro. Aside from selling electricity to BC Hydro, the plant would generate nearly 30 megawatts of thermal energy as a byproduct to be used for commercial and industrial purposes, said Knight. “This is heat that could potentially heat greenhouses or provide primary fibre breakdown,” he said. “There’s kind of two dimensions to this – it’s the economic benefit of producing electricity but there’s also potential associated with the heat byproduct that comes from the production of that electricity.” That all adds up to it making “good business sense as a standalone project,” said Knight. The project was a Kitselas initiative, he said. “Kitselas has known about the surface anomaly of the geothermal resource for generations, it was used very extensively in historic times by the Kitselas First Nation so Kitselas has always known that there’s a potential there,” he said. “With the move towards a requirement and a desire for renewable energy, particularly in the northwest ... Kitselas thought it was time to move ahead with it and took the project to both Enbridge renewables and Borealis,” he said.
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GAVEN CRITES PHOTO
■■ Gold! TERRACE MIDGET Rep Kermode Hunter Johnson goes in for the shot during the 2014 Tier 3 championship final against Alberni Valley in 100 Mile House March 21. Terrace would go on to win the game 4 – 1, giving them gold and a perfect 7 – 0 record. For more on the tournament, see Page 28.
Second work camp planned A SECOND worker accommodation camp has been proposed for the area, this one on property within the city’s Skeena Industrial Development Park located just south of the airport. The planned location is on land at the park just sold by the city to the Kitselas First Nation’s Kitselas Development Corporation. Falcon Camp Services from Prince George would build a 200-400 person camp for workers on the Pacific Trails Pipeline that would carry natural gas to the planned Kitimat LNG (liquefied natural gas) plant at Kitimat. Overall, the companies estimate that as many as 1,500 workers would be needed to build the pipeline. Both the pipeline and plant projects
are equally owned by Chevron and Apache. “Falcon Camp Services will provide the camp structures and will operate and manage the camp …. ,” said city planner David Block last week. On Monday, city council conducted the first readings of an amendment to the Official Community Plan and zoning bylaw necessary to allow such a development on land within the city limits. Kitimat LNG does have environmental and regulatory approvals to start construction but an investment decision by its owners has yet to be made although one is expected later this year. Apache has, however, said it wants to sell some of its ownership position
because of engineering and design costs which this year could reach $1 billion even without an investment decision being made. Estimates range to more than $6 billion to build the pipeline and LNG plant with the pipeline coming in at $1.5 billion of that amount. The Kitimat LNG plant could export as much as five million tonnes of LNG a year. Earlier this month, a proposal surfaced by the PTI Group of Edmonton that could see it also build worker accommodation within the regional district boundaries. It would be on land located on the right hand side of Hwy37 South if traveling south to Kitimat leading toward the intersection of the highway and Churchill Drive.
Team Hailey
The right way
Junior All Native
Community fundraisers helping with a local girl’s cancer treatment \COMMUNITY A11
Could how wood is used be key to the acceptance of large projects? \NEWS A5
Terrace teams were in Kamloops at the Junior All Native tournament \SPORTS A29