Manitoba's Geothermal Use Rising

WINNIPEG - Mar 26/07 - SNS -- The number of geothermal installations in Manitoba recently passed the 5,000 mark, said Science, Technology Energy and Mines Minister Jim Rondeau at the first conference of the Manitoba Geothermal Energy Alliance (MGEA) being held in Winnipeg.

"Five thousand geothermal installations lead the continent. On a per-capita basis, Manitoba installs geothermal at more than three times the Canadian average including 800 units in 2006 alone," said Rondeau. "I congratulate the industry and Manitobans for continuing to embrace new renewable technologies."

"The success of geothermal has been due to a combination of Manitoban's highly-skilled and entrepreneurial geothermal industry, promotion of the technology by Manitoba Hydro and attractive economics," said Brent Laufer, president of MGEA. "Geothermal simply saves money by reducing the heat bills for Manitobans."

Rondeau noted the rate of geothermal installations began to accelerate quickly in 2002 when Manitoba Hydro endorsed geothermal and began offering Power Smart loans.

"While the capital costs of installing geothermal is higher than other conventional sources of heat, Manitoba Hydro offers Power Smart loans which can be paid back out of the savings," said the minister. "The annual operating costs of geothermal in an average residential home are about half the cost of a high-efficient furnace or heating with electric baseboard heat."