The orphan well crisis in Alberta presents a challenge to all levels of government: do these inactive energy producing assets represent a financial burden and an environmental risk? Or do they represent a job creating opportunity?
I have spent the last months meeting with energy experts across Alberta and Canada discussing the hidden potential of Alberta’s orphan wells. The conversion of these wells into geothermal producing assets was repeatedly raised as a cost effective, environmentally sustainable, and job creating solution to the problem.
Geothermal is the most affordable renewable source of energy, with a per-kWh cost half of hydroelectric or wind. Canada remains the only major country in the Pacific Rim that is not producing electricity from its geothermal resources.
Natural Resources Canada has indicated there is enormous potential for geothermal energy in Canada and “in place capacity” well over a million times what Canadians actually use, yet the development of this technology continues to stagnate.