GREEN DEALS: Good news week for hot rocks

Petratherm has bumped up its estimats of the power potential for its flagship Paralana geothermal project in South Australia, saying it has the potential to provide enough geothermal energy to fulfill one third of the state's power needs. An assessment from independent geothermal assessment firm Hot Dry Rocks, has firmed the Paralana resource potential from “inferred” to either “indicated” or “measured,” representing a major step forward for Petratherm and its joint venture partners Beach Energy and TRUenergy. The results stem from the underground reservoir creation and flow testing activities conducted at Paralana in recent months, with the first "measured resource" alone found to be capable of sustaining a 5.4MW geothermal power station for 30 years. The total estimated recoverable resource has been confirmed to have the potential to produce 1,300MW of continuous geothermal power for the next three decades – which is more than one third of SA's total energy requirements.

 “These results are excellent for Petratherm and our joint venture …and they're also of major significance to the wider geothermal energy sector in Australia,” said Petratherm managing director Terry Kallis. “To put this into context, the estimated amount of recoverable clean energy at Paralana is the equivalent to the electricity that can be produced at coal-fired power stations by burning 650 million tonnes of black coal and emitting 1.9 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over the same 30-year period. Kallis said the findings were “just the tip of the iceberg” and that they easily accommodated Petratherm's long-term goal of generating 600MW of electricity into the national electricity market. “The next step now is to drill the Paralana 3 well next year and complete the fluid circulation system, which will enable us to close the loop and begin unlocking the enormous commercial potential of Paralana's vast resources,” he said. “Paralana is now closer than ever to producing Australia's first commercial supply of geothermal energy, which is very exciting.”

Meanwhile, the company's Spanish operations have been boosted by the Spanish government's announcement of a strengthened commitment to geothermal development, particularly for electric power production. “For the first time, Spain's renewable energy development plan highlights geothermal energy as a separate renewable category, and importantly, allocates up to €100 million in subsidies and financing to facilitate the development of geothermal power production,” Kallis said.  He said these latest developments at Paralana and in Spain provide a tremendous springboard into 2012, which is shaping as a defining year for Petratherm.

Deeper pockets

Geothermal joint venture partners Geodynamics and Origin Energy have announced plans to recommence drilling at their Innamincka Deeps project at South Australia's Cooper Basin, after changes to funding arrangements for the $90 million in grant money that was awarded to Geodynamics in 2009. The companies said on Thursday that a Q1 2012 target date had been set to begin drilling at their Habanero 4 well, adding that the 're-profiling' of funding arrangements with the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism meant that a greater proportion of funds could be earmarked for the early stages of the project. The company said that the $90 million in Renewable Energy Demonstration Program (REDP) grant money would provide significant funding for the drilling of the well and the forward work program. It now expects to be able to draw down funds to offset up to 50 per cent of the cost of the major appraisal program activities over the next two years, while maintaining the overall $90 million grant amount, and the funding program requirement of $2 of project funding for each $1 of grant funding.

Habanero 4, which the JV initially plans to drill to a target depth of approximately 4,170m, is the first step in an appraisal program that aims to demonstrate a commercial reserve at the Habanero site. “This acceleration of the grant funding will provide material support to Geodynamics in the delivery of the appraisal program at Habanero,” said Geodynamics' managing director and CEO, Geoff Ward. “The support from DRET also demonstrates the strategic importance of proving the viability of the Cooper Basin geothermal resource for long term energy planning in Australia.” The DRET, meanwhile, has concluded that this change in funding arrangements will increase the chances of success of the project in demonstrating the potential of geothermal energy in Australia.

Shipping news from Algae.Tec

Algae-to-biofuels company Algae.Tec, has announced that its first photo-bioreactor module – enclosed modular engineered technology designed to grow algae on an industrial scale for the production of biofuels – is on its way to Australian shores, having been shipped from the company's US HQ – an Algae Development & Manufacturing Centre in Atlanta, Georgia – on Thursday. The module is the first of five bound for the company's Shoalhaven One showcase facility, which was recently granted permitting approval. The site is located in Nowra, South of Sydney, next to the industrial facility of Manildra Group – Australia's largest ethanol producer. “This is a massive step for Algae.Tec," said the company's executive chairman Roger Stroud. "The algae photo-bioreactors will take a carbon dioxide feed from the ethanol fermenters into the algae growth system and show the scalability and commerciality of our technology. These bioreactors will be in production towards the end of the first quarter next year.”

Stroud says Algae.Tec offers a solution for carbon-intensive businesses and industries seeking emissions reduction technologies. “Algae.Tec is one of few advanced biofuels companies globally with an enclosed modular engineered technology designed to grow algae on an industrial scale and produce biofuels that replace predominantly imported fossil fuels for transportation use,” he said. The enclosed module technology also has less than one tenth the land footprint of pond growth options – which in turn solves the problem of food-producing land being turned over for biofuel production – and can produce high-yield algae biomass in virtually any environment.