Economic and energy analysis of domestic ground source heat pump systems in four Canadian cities

This study provides an economic and energy analysis of the implementation of geothermal systems to meet the needs of a typical 130 m2 dwelling of a Canadian individual. The objective is to determine the monetary balance after 22 years, the net present value, the internal return rate, and annual savings for the same system operating under different climatic conditions and in different provinces (legislations, costs of fuel) to determine whether or not an individual should implement such a system in 2014. The geothermal system is used for both space heating and cooling, and to provide for 25% of the total amount of domestic hot water. The simulations are performed with RETScreen® for four Canadian cities: Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. For the investigated configurations, it appeared that the cost of energy and its sources, which varied greatly according to the location, are the factors that most strongly influenced the economic viability of the proposed geothermal system, while climate was only a secondary impact. The impact of carbon taxes and equivalent monetary subsidies does not significantly modify the economic outcomes for Halifax and Montreal. However, for Toronto and Vancouver, these would need to reach between 280 and 300 Can$/tCO2eq to attain economic balance.