CURRENT STATUS OF THE PEBBLE CREEK (NORTH MEAGER) GEOTHERMAL PROJECT, SOUTHWESTERN BRITISH COLUMBIA

Transcription

1 CURRENT STATUS OF THE PEBBLE CREEK (NORTH MEAGER) GEOTHERMAL PROJECT, SOUTHWESTERN BRITISH COLUMBIA Mory Ghomshei, Tim Sadlier-Brown and Ferri Hassani McGill University Department of Mining and Materials Engineering Inc. World Mining Congress, 2013 paper 858

2 Tecto s Pebble Creek Prospect Outline World Power Status BC Prospects Pebble Creek (North Meager) Prospect Plan for Development Costs and Conclusion

3 Growing Trend in World Power Capacity With a steady growth of about 3% per annum, world geothermal power generation presently exceeds MW (rivaling wind in net energy production) Data source: GEA

4 Viable and Renewable US Energy Administration, Short-term Energy Outlook, May 2012 US supply in Quadrillion BTU is a viable renewable power, ranking in 4 th in capacity after hydro, biomass and wind, and significantly higher than solar.

5 A clean and economically viable alternative A 300 MW geothermal power plant site in the Philippines Energy accounts for 1/5th of the total electric power generation in the Philippines

6 Most Economical Base-load Power From CRS Report for US Congress (2008) Capital costs are roughly split between the power plant itself (50-60%) and the resource infrastructure (drilling and steam field development) (40-50%). For Pebble Creek, the development cost is estimated at $2,500/KW to $3,000/KW installed amounting to 500 to 600 million dollars for the initial 200 MW

7 Potential in British Columbia 12 young volcanic complexes on the Canadian West Coast provide a geothermal power generation potential of 3,000 to 5,000 MW Tecto Property in Pebble Creek (North Meager) has an estimated generating potential of over 500 MW

8 Brief History of South Meager Creek (8km South of Tecto s Pebble Creek Prospect) On the left: Exploratory MC1 well, discharging 200 C two phase geothermal fluids. The first Canadian geothermal pilot plant was successfully tested for 40 days in 1984 with the discharge from MC1.

9 South Meager vs North Meager (Pebble Creek) 2 million years Volcanic vent age Pebble Creek 2 thousand Permits years Reservoir Model of the Meager Creek Complex, South-North cross-section. The boundary of the geothermal resource (BC Hydro Model) is shown in pink. Resource is located dominantly on the Pebble Creek (Tecto s) side.

10 Pebble Creek Geological Cross Section of North Meager (Pebble Creek) Remarkable presence of primary permeability in the Pebble Creek Prospect associated with high temperature gradients

11 Tecto Prospect in the Pebble Creek (North Meager) area Red lines define the boundary of Tecto s Pebble Creek property. Pebble Creek hot springs are located inside Tecto property.

12 Tecto s Property in Pebble Creek (North Meager) about 50 km from the City of Pemberton, B.C. Pebble Creek Hot Springs

13 Electrical Resistivity Survey in the Pebble Creek area Line V Resistivity and SP surveys, conducted by BC Hydro (SP Line A and Resistivity line V shown in next slides)

14 Pebble Creek Line V SP Data Low resistivity anomaly (solid lines) and possible anomaly (dashed lines)

15 Line A Resistivity Data Northwest-Southeast Section for SP Survey Line A near the hot springs, which lie about 300 meters northeast of the line opposite Station NW. The pronounced SP low between stations and is attributed to the hot spring system.

16 Pebble Creek Hot Springs are located within Tecto s property) Access to the Pebble Creek hot springs Despite their high temperature (70 C), the Pebble Creek hot springs have low salinity (suggestive of steam heating)

17 Hot Springs in Lillooet Valley (within Tecto s Property) Aerial Picture of the Prospect Area

18 Highest temperature gradients discovered in Canada located in the Pebble Creek geothermal prospect In the Pebble Creek geothermal prospect area, ground temperature rises by 80 to 90 C per km (data from BC Hydro deep core holes).

19 Looking deep in the ground cores from the Meager Creek area Study of core samples from deep core holes from the Meager Complex shows the presence of both primary and secondary permeability associated with volcanic vents. Intrusive rocks close to the vents are also highly fractured.

20 Planned Confirmation drilling To depth 2500m Planned Locations of Proposed Drill Holes To depth 2500m

21 Flash Steam Power Generation Technology (most of the world geothermal power capacity) Pebble Creek resource is high-grade, and will be exploited by Flash Steam technology

22 Pebble Creek Viable Power Corridors Besides, about 150 MW hydro capacity is planned to be developed in the Pebble Creek area. Tecto geothermal power will be connected to the BC Hydro grid at Pemberton (red line)

23 First Nations Lil wat Nation Mount Currie Band Tecto considers the local First Nations as shareholders. Preliminary communications and meetings have been made with the First Nations in 2012 and Consultants for archaeological studies (initiated 2009) have been identified and contacted for collaboration. On the side of power generation, Tecto plans to develop an extensive geothermal direct use project, using its hot water byproducts for greenhouse growing and spa resort development to the interest and with the full participation of local First Nations.

24 Tecto Power Resource Evaluation Lateral and vertical heat distribution between depth 1,500m to 3,000m. Based on interpolation and extrapolation of temperature gradient data.

25 Power Resource Evaluation Temperature models show that the resource under the property can support about 500MW of power generation.

26 Phased Development Plan Phase 1 Test Production of 15MW and resource confirmation for the next 200MW Phase 2 Development of additional 200MW and resource confirmation for raising the capacity to 500 MW

27 Cost of Development of the first phase (15 MW) and Resource Confirmation for Phase 2 (200MW) Drilling and completion of 3 production-size holes at Pebble Creek to a depth of 2500 to 3000 m, and comprehensive feasibility study for the first 15 MW generation: Geotechnical /environmental 1 Mob-Demob. 1 Drilling (2 production, 1 Injection) 12 Well testing /reservoir engineering 1 Feasibility for the first 220 MW Confirmation/feasibility 16M Contingency 4M Total Resource 20M Power Plant (15 MW flash steam) 20M Connection (to local grid) 5M Contingency 10M Grand Total 60M

28 s Economy Phase 2 Costs: Resource development (200MW) 250M Power Plant and connection to grid 300M Total costs 550M Levelized cost of production For Phase 1 (15MW) = 9 cents/kwh For Phase 2 (200MW) = 6 cents/kwh

29 Conclusion: power technology is mature, clean, and offers a green solution for the world s increasing demand for electricity. British Columbia has at least 3000 to 5000 MW geothermal power potential. The Meager Creek Complex is the most advanced geothermal prospect in BC with an estimated 1000 MW potential. The chemistry of hot springs and temperature data from deep slim holes have proven the presence of a high-grade geothermal resource associated with the Pebble Creek hot springs. Tecto s Pebble Creek (North Meager Reservoir) prospect has an estimated developable power potential of above 500MW The cost of the first 15MW development is estimated at: 60 Million Dollars with a levelized cost of 9 cents/kwh. The cost of an additional 200MW generation is estimated at 550 Million Dollars with levelized cost of about 6cents/KWh

30 Thank You Questions?