| Title | Multiuse Triple Play Hot Sedimentary Aquifer (HSA) Potential of Victoria, Australia |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robert King, Mark Miller |
| Year | 2010 |
| Conference | World Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | Geothermal energy, hot sedimentary aquifers, engineered geothermal systems, Otway Basin, Gippsland Basin |
| Abstract | Greenearth Energy Ltd holds geothermal exploration permits to the east and west of Melbourne, Victoria Australia. These permits are located on the Otway and Gippsland basins that straddle the southern part of the State. The basin fills range up to 6 km thick and forms an insulating blanket over Palaeozoic basement rocks. Geothermal gradients are somewhat elevated, with heat flows up to 100 mW/m2 in places, and projected temperatures of 150 o C at around 3 kilometres (km) depth. Sandy units at the base of the basin sequences offer potential for geothermal development of Hot Sedimentary Aquifers (HSA) while longer term Hot Dry Rocks (HDR) prospectivity exists in Palaeozoic granites buried beneath the sedimentary insulating cover. The HSA’s are a triple play with potential for electricity generation, direct heat applications and potential sequestration sites. A geothermal resource has been estimated for the area south of Geelong, encompassing both HWA and EGS geothermal plays. A proposal has been modeled for a 10.7 MW and 48 MW geothermal development accessing part of the HWA geothermal resource. |