Calgary’s Eavor was joined today by Rebecca Schulz, the Minister of Environment & Protected Areas, the Canadian Association of Energy Contractors, the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association, the Rural Municipalities Association, and Brazeau County to commence the planning and development of the Alberta Drilling Accelerator.
Led by the Government of Alberta, Eavor, and other stakeholders, the Alberta Drilling Accelerator (ADA) will represent a technology-agnostic, market-driven geothermal test site available for use by any geothermal company to enable novel drilling techniques and off-site technology development.
The test bed will be the first of its kind in Canada, firmly establishing Alberta as a global leader in geothermal technology commercialization and exports.
Additionally, the ADA will help ensure the province keeps pace with other government-supported geothermal test sites, such as Utah FORGE in the United States, the Continental Deep Drilling Programme in Germany, the Deep Drilling Project in Iceland, and China’s recently announced drilling program as geothermal technologies gain prominence across the globe.
“With cumulative geothermal investment poised to reach $1 trillion by 2050, a geothermal arms race is very much underway to commercialize novel drilling techniques that accelerate geothermal development – exhibited by testing facilities in the United States, China and Iceland,” commented John Redfern, President & CEO, of Eavor Technologies.
” As Canada’s first geothermal test bed, the Alberta Drilling Accelerator will help bring geothermal technologies to scale, supporting companies like Eavor. We commend the Government of Alberta for this bold initiative.”
The ADA reflects the Government of Alberta’s commitment to establish Alberta as a global geothermal hub promoting technology development and adoption to augment net-zero 2050 ambitions and energy security, per the Emissions Reduction & Energy Development Plan.
Alberta’s oil and gas sector positions the province as the ideal jurisdiction to scale innovative geothermal drilling methods and technologies by leveraging an unparalleled labour pool and drilling assets to advance geothermal applications.
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