| Abstract |
The five years from 2010–2014 saw mixed fortunes for the geothermal sector in Australia. Three deep wells were completed, of which two were stranded. The third, however, was used in the completion, commissioning and demonstration of Australia’s first new geothermal power plant in 20 years. The 1 MWe Habanero Pilot Plant successfully completed a 160-day demonstration, powered by a closed-loop pumped system circulating water through an underground heat exchanger in granodiorite at almost 4,500 m depth. The production well exceeded expectations for productivity. Meanwhile, the Birdsville Geothermal Power Plant continued to generate 80 kWe net electrical power from a 98°C artesian well in Central Australia. The commercial geothermal power sector in Australia underwent a period of retraction over the reporting period. Many of the companies exploring for geothermal energy in 2009 re-focused or diversified into other energy sources or commodities. The number and area of exploration licenses decreased, although key areas were still held under license. Direct use of thermal groundwater, however, grew, especially in and around the City of Perth. This included the completion of a Ground Water Cooling project in Perth that involves the rejection of waste heat from a supercomputer into a shallow aquifer. At the time of writing (early 2014), there is renewed interest to re-commission a suspended geothermal district heating system in Portland, Victoria. Ground source heat pumps were rapidly increasingly in popularity as an energy efficiency measure in new building complexes. A recreational and balneological hot spring spa industry was emerging in Victoria and elsewhere around the country, establishing itself as a significant driver for local economic development. The five-year period also saw the formation of the Geothermal Research Initiative, a collaborative framework of the key research institutions interested in geothermal energy in Australia. Government support was variable. Broad recognition that previous support programs did not result in increased drilling success or power production caused funding bodies to reassess how best to support development of the industry. Financial support was limited to a small number of research and demonstration projects. In 2014, the key funding body, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, carried out an in-depth review of the economic potential for geothermal energy in Australia, concluding that more fundamental research is needed. The federal government was also developing an energy white paper to set out the energy agenda in Australia. The results of the energy white paper will be presented at the WGC 2015. |