Friday, 12 March

Geothermal energy interest grows in Queensland

The QGECE is having its first Stakeholders Workshop on 17 March 2010. The Workshop will discuss what is happening in Queensland to encourage a faster take-up of geothermal energy in Queensland and the role of QGECE in this process.

The attendance is free but by invitation only. I am pleased to note that over 60 delegates from around the nation confirmed participation in the Workshop. These delegates represent 12 geothermal companies; 8 service companies; universities and CSIRO; and Queensland and other state government departments.Regular readers of this blog know that the Queensland Geothermal Energy Research Centre (QGECE) was established by the University of Queensland with a $15m grant from the Queensland State Government. The funding started in January 2009. The Board of the Centre had its first meeting on 15 September 2009.

I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that this Workshop is an important milestone in the development of geothermal energy in Queensland. Most people are starting to realise that geothermal energy is the only option to generate baseload electricity without burning fossil fuels or using nuclear reactors. Baseload electricity is what is needed to provide 24 hours a day and 365 days a year without reliance on the vagaries of the weather. As Martin Ferguson said on ABC television on Wednesday, "geothermal energy is one of the few options available to Australia in reducing its emissions and unless we achieve significant progress in this area in the period 2015 to 2020, then Australia will have a challenge as will the global community in how we make progress in reducing emissions."

Reflecting its importance in the energy future of the nation, attention in geothermal energy has been picking up around the nation. Currently, there are 8 active projects around Australia. These are funded by the Geothermal Drilling Program (GDP) and/or Renewable Energy Demonstration Program (REDP). The dollar value of the work programs has been increasing almost exponentially. Over $1.5b in work program investment is forecast for the period 2002 – 2013.

The QGECE is developing technologies to enable production of 50% more electricity from binary plants using the same subsurface investment. This is equivalent to achieving a 50% higher electricity sales price and, obviously, would have a significant effect on commercial viability of future geothermal projects. Even though the Centre is only one year old, it has already acquired a global reputation through its pioneering work in supercritical CO2 geothermal siphon; new cycles and cycle fluids for higher efficiencies; new cooling tower designs; and new knowledge on the magnitude and the nature of geothermal resource in Queensland.

In addition to the QGECE activities, the Workshop will also have a short presentation on the new $5m Queensland government initiative to explore the geothermal potential near the Queensland coast: Coastal Drilling Initiative.

Information on the Workshop can be found on http://www.uq.edu.au/geothermal/workshop .

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