Disposing the rights to geothermal In total, the province holds the subsurface rights to resource development 81 per cent of Alberta’s 66 million hectares.13 If geothermal resource ownership is vested with the province, then the province will need to establish Alternatively, characterizing geothermal energy as a tenure system to dispense and manage the a water resource (as is the case in New Zeala. [...] by obtaining ownership of title to the resource or The Alberta Water Act states “the property in and through an agreement that allows a third party the right to the diversion and use of all water in the to develop the resource (e.g., a lease, licence, Province is vested in Her Majesty in right of Alberta permit, etc.). [...] The uncertainty of securing The owners of subsurface resources will typically the mineral rights through the auction process can require compensation for the development provide a disincentive to identify viable parcels to of their property through the form of a royalty. [...] For example, Once the province dispenses the rights to develop developers of oil and gas resources owned by the resource, the permit holder will generally Alberta pay a monthly royalty on production based need to perform work to confirm that the resource on the type of project (e.g., oil sands, conventional), they hold the rights to exists and is economically the price the resource is sold for, th. [...] In these instances, it may Once the development rights for geothermal be economically feasible to use this geothermal resources have been granted, additional energy for useful purposes such as electricity regulations and rules may apply to the physical generation, thereby displacing the need to procure activities associated with the development of the this energy elsewhere.
- Pages
- 32
- Published in
- Canada
