Vertical farm powered by geothermal planned for Alberta town

View over Edmonton, Alberta/ Canada (source: flickr/ mastermaq, creative commons)

We had previously reported on the federal funding that will be made for the Latitude 53 geothermal energy project in the town of Hinton in Alberta, Canada. Details now emerge on the timeline for the construction of a geothermal power plant as well as plans for a hydroponic vertical farm powered by geothermal.

The federal funding will go towards a front-end engineering design (FEED) study to be executed by Novus Earth. The funding will be augmented by Novus Earth and Mitacs National Research Organization, bringing the total investment to CAD 6.6 million.

According to Novus Earth President Jeff Messner, Hinton was chosen for the project because of the high geothermal gradient near the town – about 36 degrees Celsius every 1000 meters in depth.

There are plans to put up a vertical farm with hydroponic operations powered by electricity from the geothermal power plant. Novus Earth is still deliberating on the types of food that will be grown but possible candidates include tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries.

Major drilling work for the project is planned for the second quarter of 2023. The project is foreseen to be up and running in three years. It will create 200 jobs during construction and 120 full-time jobs during operations.

Source: CBC