Geothermal energy exploration in Central Australia

Geothermal power in Australia is little used but growing. There are known and potential locations near the centre of the country that have been shown to contain hot granites at depth which hold good potential for development of geothermal energy. Exploratory geothermal wells have been drilled to test for the presence of high temperature geothermal reservoir rocks and such hot granites were detected. As a result, projects will eventuate in the coming years and more exploration is expected to find new locations.

Exploration

Exploration involves finding vast blocks of "hot rocks" with fracture systems that could generate electricity through water being injected, circulated through the fractures, and being returned to surface as steam.

There are vast deep-seated granite systems in Central Australia

Central Australia

Central Australia/Alice Springs Region is one of the five regions in the Northern Territory. The term Central Australia is used to describe an area centred on Alice Springs in Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Centralia; likewise the people of the area are sometimes called Centralians...

that have high temperatures at depth and these are being drilled by companies such as Geodynamics Ltd, Petratherm, Green Rock Energy

Green Rock Energy

Green Rock Energy Limited is an Australian company which is exploring geothermal energy resources and the development of low-emission, base load, renewable energy. In South Australia, the company has seven geothermal exploration licences totalling and two GEL applications surrounding Olympic Dam...

and Pacific Hydro

Pacific Hydro

Pacific Hydro is an Australian company that specialises in electricity generation using renewable energy. Its focus is on hydroelectricity and windpower. It was a public company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange until July 2005. It was subject to a successful takeover offer by a subsidiary of...

to depths of more than four kilometres.

South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

has been described as "Australia's hot rock haven" and this renewable energy

Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...

form could provide an estimated 6.8% of Australia's base load power

Base load power plant

Baseload is the minimum amount of power that a utility or distribution company must make available to its customers, or the amount of power required to meet minimum demands based on reasonable expectations of customer requirements...

needs by 2030. According to a conservative estimate by the Centre for International Economics, Australia has enough geothermal energy to contribute electricity for 450 years.

Parts of central Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

have been identified by KUTh Energy as having the potential to generate up to 280MW of power. Such a resource would be able to supply 25% of Tasmania's electricity needs.

Paralana

The 30 MW Paralana project is located adjacent to the Beverley Uranium Mine

Beverley Uranium Mine

The Beverley Mine is Australia's third uranium mine and Australia's first operating in-situ recovery mine. It is located 35 km from Lake Frome at the northern end of the Flinders Ranges in South Australia and opened in 2001...

. It is an engineered geothermal system (EGS) project, based on Petratherm’s "heat exchanger within insulator" model.

Cooper Basin

The 25 MW Cooper Basin

Cooper Basin

The Cooper Basin is a sedimentary geological basin in Australia. The basin is located mainly in the north-east part of South Australia and extends into south-west Queensland. It is named after the Cooper Creek which is an ephemeral river that runs into Lake Eyre. Part of the Cooper Basin is...

demonstration project will demonstrate the potential of hot-rock geothermal energy for zero-emission, base-load power. The project is owned by Geodynamics and will be the world’s first multi-well hot fractured rock power project. Geodynamics has assessed its resource as holding geothermal energy sufficient to support several thousand megawatts of electricity generating capacity.

Jurien-Woodada

The Jurien-Woodada project, owned by New World Energy Limited, is the most advanced geothermal play in Western Australia for electricity production. The project is adjacent to transmission infrastructure and large resource-driven energy markets in the mid-west region. The project area has the potential to contain both hot sedimentary aquifer and EGS styles and is being assessed for delivery of electricity into Western Australia's South West Interconnected System.

Companies

! Company Name
! Area of operations
! Furthest project advancement
! Geothermal only
! ASX

Australian Securities Exchange

The Australian Securities Exchange was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia....

code> | Geodynamics
| Hunter Valley

Hunter Valley

The Hunter Region, more commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney with an approximate population of 645,395 people. Most of the population of the Hunter Region lives within of the coast, with 55% of the entire...

Perth basin

The Perth Basin is a thick sedimentary basin in Western Australia. It lies beneath the Swan Coastal Plain west of the Darling Scarp, representing the western limit of the much older Yilgarn Craton, and extends further west offshore...

| Resource drilling
| Yes
|> | Green Rock Energy

Green Rock Energy

| Roxby Downs, Perth basin

Perth basin

| Resource drilling
| Yes
| GRK> | Pacific Hydro

Pacific Hydro

Limestone Coast

The Limestone Coast is a name used since the early twentyfirst century for the geographical region and tourist region of the southeast coast of South Australia from the Victoria border to the towards the city of Adelaide.-Location and description:...

Anglesea, Victoria

Anglesea is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is located on the Great Ocean Road in the Surf Coast Shire local government area. At the 2006 census, Anglesea had a population of 2,290....

, Gippsland

Gippsland

Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...

Cape Otway

Cape Otway is a cape in south Victoria, Australia on the Great Ocean Road; much of the area is enclosed in the Otway National Park.-History:...

| Validation drilling
| Yes
| HRL> | Origin Energy

Origin Energy

-History:Origin Energy was formed in February 2000, as a result of a demerger from the Australian conglomerate Boral Limited, in which the energy business was removed from the building and construction materials business to form the new company....

| Joint venture partner
|
| No
| ORG>

External links

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Exploration

Paralana

Cooper Basin

Jurien-Woodada

Companies

See also

External links