News

June 26, 2008

Petratherm Benefits As Sentiment Towards Geothermal Power Improves

By Rue Swabey

Last December, shortly after being sworn in, Kevin Rudd, Australia’s new Prime Minister signed the Kyoto Protocol. This must have been music to the ears of Australian renewable energy companies which had up to that point struggled with an unfavourable regulatory framework. The Rudd administration soon set a target for 20 per cent of energy generation to come from renewable sources by 2020. And public money is being made available for geothermal exploration, in recognition of the country’s potential to develop its large geothermal resources. Today there are 33 companies trying to harness heat from under the ground and convert it into electricity, ten of which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Two companies, Geodynamics and PetraTherm, have made sufficient enough progress to attract strategic joint venture partners.

Last year PetraTherm, which has a portfolio of 11 geothermal projects, agreed a joint venture with Beach Petroleum that will underpin the commercial development of the PetraTherm’s Paralana hot rock energy project. Paralana, in South Australia, has the highest heat flow that’s been measured on mainland Australia, and is expected to reach 200 degrees centigrade at a relatively shallow depth of 3,600 meters.

The next step for the Paralana project is the drilling of two four kilometre wells at...