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Geothermal power in Australia was at one time hoped to provide cost effect, renewable power for Australia. There are locations that have been shown to contain hot granites at depth which hold good potential for development of
geothermal energy
Geothermal energy is the thermal energy in the Earth's crust which originates from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of materials in currently uncertain but possibly roughly equal proportions. The high temperature and pres ...
. Exploratory geothermal wells have been drilled to test for the presence of high temperature geothermal reservoir rocks and such hot granites were detected. However, all these projects have since been abandoned. A small geothermal plant in Queensland experienced problems during commissioning and as at May 2022, remains idle.
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 which could then be used to rotate steam turbines.
[Big energy role for central Australia’s hot rocks](_blank)
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There are vast deep-seated granite systems in Central Australia
Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and i ...
that have high temperatures at depth and these have been drilled by companies such as Panax Geothermal, Geodynamics
Geodynamics is a subfield of geophysics dealing with dynamics of the Earth. It applies physics, chemistry and mathematics to the understanding of how mantle convection leads to plate tectonics and geologic phenomena such as seafloor spreading, mo ...
Ltd, Petratherm, Green Rock Energy
Black Rock Mining Limited (former names: Mokuti Mining Limited and Green Rock Energy Limited) is an Australian mining company. It develops the Mahenge Graphite Project in Tanzania
which is the world fourth largest graphite resource. Its chief e ...
and Pacific Hydro
Pacific Hydro is a renewable energy company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. The company was founded in 1992 and was soon floated on the Australian Stock Exchange, it was later bought by a consortium of industry superannuation funds and ...
to depths of more than four kilometres.
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
has been described as "Australia's hot rock haven" and this renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
was hoped to provide an estimated 6.8% of Australia's base load power needs by 2030.
Parts of central Tasmania
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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.
However, these projects have been discontinued.
Projects
In 2010, 47 projects were identified in Australia. Of the larger projects, Geodynamics Cooper Basin demonstration plant managed to progress the furthest. As at May 2022, no geothermal power plants are operating in Australia.
Geodynamics Cooper Basin Demonstration Plant, South Australia
A Cooper Basin
The Cooper Basin is a Permian-Triassic sedimentary geological basin in Australia. The basin is located mainly in the southwestern part of Queensland and extends into northeastern South Australia. It is named after the Cooper Creek which is an ...
demonstration project to assess the potential of hot-rock geothermal energy for zero-emission, base-load power was built by Geodynamics. The 1 MWe Habanero pilot plant operated for 160 days in 2013 and prior to closure of the trial, the plant was operating at 19kg/s and 215 degrees celsius production well head temperature. However, the project was abandoned after being assessed as uneconomic due to a combination of the cost of commercialising generation and the remoteness of the site.
"The technology worked but unfortunately the cost of implementing the technology and also the cost of delivering the electricity that was produced to a market was just greater than the revenue stream that we could create," Geodynamics chief executive Chris Murray said. Geodynamics wells have been plugged and remediated.
Geodynamics is no longer exploring geothermal power and is instead looking at other green energy initiatives. It has therefore changed its name to ReNu Energy and changed its ASX code to RNE.
gTET Winton, Queensland
A small 310kW geothermal power generation plant commenced commissioning in 2019 with the promise of becoming Australia's only operating geothermal power station. The plant was to utilise 86oC bore water from existing bores to produce electricity using an Organic Rankine Cycle
In thermal engineering, the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is a type of thermodynamic cycle. It is a variation of the Rankine cycle named for its use of an organic, high-molecular-mass fluid whose vaporization temperature is lower than that of wat ...
. However, commissioning problems were not overcome and as at May 2022, the plant remains idle and the subject of legal dispute.
See also
* Geothermal desalination
Geothermal desalination refers to the process of using geothermal energy to power the process of converting salt water to fresh water. The process is considered economically efficient, and while overall environmental impact is uncertain, it has pot ...
* Renewable energy in Australia
Renewable energy in Australia includes wind power, hydroelectricity, solar PV, heat pumps, geothermal, wave and solar thermal energy.
In 2021, Australia produced 74,679 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy, which accounted for 32.5% of electr ...
* Australian Renewable Energy Agency
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is an independent agency of the Australian federal government, established in 2012 to manage Australia's renewable energy programs, with the objective of increasing supply and competitiveness of A ...
* Wind power in Australia
Wind power is one of the main renewable energy sources in Australia contributing 10% of Australia's total electricity supply in 2020, and making up 37.5% of it's renewable energy supply. Wind resource testing conditions in Australia are opti ...
* Solar power in Australia
Solar power in Australia is a fast growing industry. As of September 2022, Australia's over 3.27 million solar PV installations had a combined capacity of 28,177 MW photovoltaic (PV) solar power, of which at least 4,258 MW was installed in the ...
* Biofuel in Australia
Biofuel is fuel that is produced from organic matter ( biomass), including plant materials and animal waste. It is considered a renewable source of energy that can assist in reducing carbon emissions. The two main types of biofuel currently being ...
* Renewable energy by country
This is a list of renewable energy topics by country and territory. These links can be used to compare developments in renewable energy in different countries and territories and to help and encourage new writers to participate in writing about ...
References
External links
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Geodynamics says it has 'hottest rocks on earth' in Cooper Basin
Primary Industries and Resources SA - Geothermal Energy
$3m For SA Geothermal Energy Project
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Geothermal Power In Australia
Geothermal energy in Australia