This article was published September 4, 2025 in the Regina Leader Post by Larissa Kurz.
The sound of shovels hitting the ground at the site of Regina’s new Indoor Aquatic Facility (IAF) will soon be accompanied by drilling related to the geothermal portion of the project.
Designed to make the facility sustainable and nearly emissions-free, the city’s plan to heat the IAF using deep geothermal energy is a big step forward for the renewable sector, said geologist Erik Nickel.
“We’re not breaking new ground in the world, but it is new for Canada and for Saskatchewan,” said Nickel.
As chief operating officer at Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC), Nickel co-authored the preliminary feasibility study that the City of Regina used in 2023 to secure federal funding for the two joined projects through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP).
The geothermal aspect was a key factor in landing federal money for the pool, which officially broke ground last month. Using a renewable resource made the project eligible for ICIP funding under Recreation and Green Infrastructure streams, which require clean energy or other climate change adaptations.
While the IAF is set to cost $285.1 million, the geothermal facility has a separate budget of $28.5 million. The city says that estimate is on track as of August, with $14.7 million sourced from federal and provincial contributions.
The two attached facilities will be built together, planned to open in 2029.
Southern Sask. is a geothermal hotspot
Geothermal energy is a largely untapped renewable resource in Saskatchewan, despite much of the southern half of the province sitting atop an expansive underground saline aquifer called the Deadwood formation.
One of the largest of its type, this aquifer stretches tens of thousands of square kilometres from the Rocky Mountains across Alberta and Saskatchewan, and down to South Dakota.
“Regina is in a kind of Goldilocks zone, where the water is hot enough but not so deep it’s as expensive to drill,” Nickel explained.
He compared Regina’s position to Estevan, where a private company called Deep Earth Energy Production Corporation drilled 3,500 metres to source for its power plant — the only other large geothermal energy project in the province.
“If Saskatoon wanted to do this exact project, it would be more difficult because the water is not as hot there, because it’s shallower,” added Nickel.
Geological researchers have known about Regina’s geothermal potential since a test well was drilled at the University of Regina in 1979, originally planned to heat buildings on campus.
The project never went ahead because of cost, but Nickel said the data collected helped geologists understand the aquifer and informed his company’s evaluation of the IAF project.
In its modelling, PTRC also used data from the last decade gathered via disposal wells at the Co-op Refinery Complex as well as wastewater injection wells for potash mines, like the one at Belle Plaine.
How does geothermal heating work?
Regina will use the heated brine water stored in the aquifer’s porous rock, which requires extraction using methods similar to oil drilling.
“We have a lot of oil and gas expertise that can be applied here,” noted Nickel.
Two wells will be drilled to a depth of around 2,200 metres — angled about one kilometre apart underground at their base — to reach water at a temperature of 60-degrees Celsius.
Pumps pull the hot water up via the source well, where it will be processed through an above-ground heat exchanger. The cooled water is then pumped back underground through the return well.
Heat collected during this process replaces a natural gas boiler that would otherwise be used for the IAF’s pool water and building.
“It’s not new technology at all,” Nickel said. “It’s used throughout northern Europe, France, specifically the Netherlands.”
PTRC says move is innovative
PTRC estimates the Deadwood aquifer will be a viable source of heated water for up to 70 years before the extraction process cools the overall temperature of the underground formation — well within the lifespan of the pool.
Initial modelling anticipates using geothermal for the IAF will cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 8,829 tonnes per year, the same as taking 2,355 cars off the road annually.
For now, the city only plans to use geothermal energy for its aquatic centre, but PTRC says it could be expanded to fuel other facilities. New modelling would be needed to update the aquifer’s lifespan projections and the feasibility of potentially further utilizing the same wells.
In Nickel’s opinion, geothermal has remained an under-utilized energy source in Canada largely due to the up-front costs to drill, and the relatively cheap cost and convenience of natural gas.
“When this pool project is shown to have worked, we’re already in communication with a lot of other municipalities and jurisdictions that would like to do this,” he said.
“Once this domino falls, I think we’ll see it all throughout southern Saskatchewan.”