| Title | Unitisation of Geothermal Resources: Economics and Policy |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sam Malafeh, Basil Sharp |
| Year | 2011 |
| Conference | New Zealand Geothermal Workshop |
| Keywords | Access, geothermal, open access, policy, property rights, renewable, resource, single tapper, unitisation |
| Abstract | Electricity is an essential element of any contemporary society and/or economy. Questions on where, and how efficiently, the available energy is being generated are becoming increasingly important. Secure electricity production is essential for economic growth. Higher fuel costs and recent international initiatives to tackle carbon emissions encourage the use of renewable resources like wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal for electricity generation. This paper focuses on the development of geothermal resources for electricity generation. Resources can be located in private, community, or public lands. In New Zealand, there are good geothermal resources located on land owned by Maori. Tangible benefits may help to fast track development. However, geothermal development in New Zealand is complicated. Fragmented multiple landowners have access to identical geothermal reservoirs while the Crown claims the control of the resource. Robust policies are required to ensure the sustainability of the resources. New Zealand has gone through series of changes to the rules governing the access to the resources from a single tapping policy to multiple access. This paper reviews the government access policy to the geothermal resources and the impact of those policies on the value and sustainability of the resources. It studies the impact of single, multiple, and co-managed tapping systems on the value of geothermal resources located on Maori land. The paper uses case studies to identify the best policy that can increase the value of the geothermal resources while ensuring the sustainability of those resources. |