Tuesday, 30 March

Earth Wind and Fire

Interest in Indonesian geothermal sector is hotting up. Yesterday, I mentioned Tata Power and Origin Energy. Today, I saw a press release by Chevron that it too is bidding for a geothermal power project proposed for North Sumatra, Indonesia at Sorik Merapi. The Sorik Merapi project will have an initial generating capacity of 55 MWe, augmentable to 200 MWe as demand grows. Indonesia, which is within the extremely active seismic region called the Pacific Ring of Fire, is said to have a geothermal power-generating potential of about 27,000 megawatts, but the current installed geothermal capacity is only about 1200 MWe. While Tata, Origin, and Chevron are expressing interest in North Sumatra, Raser Technologies announced yesterday that the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) awarded Indonesia Power (IP) grant funding in the amount of $934,308 for a feasibility study of the Tangkuban Perahu geothermal concession and IP has selected Raser as the sole-source contractor to perform the study. he grant will cover approximately 70% of the study, with Raser, as sole-source contractor, contributing a cost share of approximately $400,000. This is targeting Raser and IP concessions amounting to 100,000 acres surrounding the Tangkuban Perahu volcano, approximately 15 miles north of Bandung, the capital of the West Java Province. The following images shows the crater of Tangkuban Parahu. The area is a popular touristic destination.

While these things are happening in Java and Sumatra, A Brisbane-based company Earth Solar Power will be exploring an area north of Shepparton, Victoria, with initial drilling to be conducted to a depth of 500 m. The exploration manager and company director Howard Bassingthwaighte is expecting the initial work around Shepparton to entail shallow and slim holes being drilled before a temperature probe was lowered into the ground.

The company week received a $60 000 Victorian Government grant in January for the Shepparton drilling operation. Mr Bassingthwaighte said the grant required the company to begin work within 12 months. "So sometime this year we will drill at least one hole, and we are looking at drilling two depending on the drilling companies," Mr Bassingthwaighte said. He also said that the company was exploring areas in Queensland as well but its main focus was on Victoria. The following image shows Victorian Onshore Permit Documents(3/3/2010) by Earth Solar Power

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