Geodynamics to bring hot rock power to Australian grid by 2010

Apr 13, 2007 - Datamonitor

Australian company Geodynamics, which is engaged in exploring hot fractured rock geothermal energy, has reviewed its resource position and has accordingly brought forward its plans to deliver its first power from hot rocks onto the Australian power grid.

Geodynamics hopes to deliver its first power by the end of 2010 and to then ramp up production to over 500MW by 2015. The company stated that, following a review of its resource position, it had concluded that Australia's geothermal resources offer the greatest potential for a rapid response to country's demand for zero-emission power.

Geodynamics has prime tenements totaling more than 2,500 square kilometers in the Copper Basin, which stretches from the Northeast of South Australia into the Southwest of Queensland. The company said that this region has the potential to generate very large amounts of zero-emission power for hundreds of years. Geodynamics tenements in the region have been shown to contain over 390,000 petajoules of high grade thermal energy.

Geodynamics said that its next step in realizing the potential of the Cooper Basin will be to drill its third well, and its first production-scale well, commencing mid-2007. This will enable production testing, leading to the first formal proving of geothermal reserves. One these are completed, the company said that it will have the basis for planning a 40MW plant to be delivering power into the grid by the end of 2010.

Australia's Sydney Daily Herald cited Geodynamics' chief executive, Adrian Williams, as saying: "The granite is hot because of the natural nuclear activity in there - it's green nuclear."