A Saskatoon-based company has drilled and fracked the world’s first 90-degree horizontal well for geothermal power.

In what is considered a potentially 'landmark move' the well signals the arrival of a new energy source in Canada - as well as providing fresh job opportunities for oil and gas workers to apply their skills in renewable power.

Deep Earth Energy Production Corp. chief executive officer Kirsten Marcia told the Financial Post in a recent article that there’s a "big, big future for geothermal power in Western Canada."

The well is the deepest horizontal well ever drilled in Saskatchewan.

Marcia went on to say that "We were looking for a way to explain to people that we drilled a gusher" - which of course in industry terms is an extremely productive well that pumps substantial volumes of oil and gas.

The well will form part of a larger 20MW geothermal power project, which is expected to commence construction in 2023 in southern Saskatchewan close to the U.S. border.

According to the article, over 100 oilfield workers were on site to drill and hydraulic-fracture the company’s horizontal well in southern Saskatchewan in September and October, including a drilling crew from Houston-based Weatherford International Plc - as well as a pressure-pumping team from Saskatchewan’s Element Technical Services Inc.

“It’s amazing. Everything we’re doing is figuratively and literally on the backs of these highly skilled oilfield workers. We couldn’t do this without this expertise in this part of the world,” said Marcia.

You can read the full article here.