Contemporary Stress Orientations in the Australian North West Shelf

							              Geothermal Exploration &
              Development in Australia




Richard Hillis, RIsCCS Seminar
      Tuesday 25 March
Conventional Geothermal Energy
Enhanced Geothermal Systems
             Resources Pyramid




                                 Better quality
                                   resource




Increasing
technology
          Geothermal Resources Pyramid

High Geothermal Gradient
                                                Shallow high permeability
    High Permeability                            hot ‘volcanic’ aquifers

                                                  Deeper permeable hot
                                                  ‘sedimentary’ aquifers

                               Deep permeable
                                hot basement

                                 Deep tight
                                hot basement


                             Deep tight basement
      Increasing
      technology     1 km3 of 250°C rock contains stored
                       energy of 40 million barrels of oil
  GEOTHERMAL     OUR PLAN IS TO      THE VISIONARY
 ENERGY COULD    FIND VERY HOT,    LEADERSHIP WORK
  AMELIORATE     VERY PERMEABLE,     IS DONE. HOW
CLIMATE CHANGE   SHALLOW ROCKS      LONG WILL YOUR
                 UNDER THE GRID        PART TAKE?
                                           Pacific Hydro
             Marla
                                   Oodnadatta              Geodynamics
                                                              Habanero 1,2
                                                  Eden             Eden
                                                             Moomba
                                                                     Osiris
                     Proactive                                     Eden
                             Coober Pedy
                                           Petratherm      Yerila 1
                     Proactive                         Petratherm
                                             Olympic Dam
                                                                                   end July 2007
                            Green Rock                         Paralana 1
                                                    Eden
                 Tarcoola      Blanche 1                   Leigh
                                Proactive
                                                           Creek
                                                                                   • 157 GELs/GELAs in SA
                                        Torrens                                    • 17 companies
                                                           Geothermal              • 7 in 2003
                                   Port Augusta

                                   Wudinna
                                                     Green Rock                    • ~200 nationally
                                                                 Eden              • 27 companies
                                                            Torrens
                                                                                   • $700M in 5-year licence
                                      Port                    Petratherm
                                                                                     commitments nationally
                                      Lincoln

                                                   ADELAIDE




                                                        Geothermal

                                                    Heat Flow 1,3,4       Osiris
Image Courtesy of PIRSA                           Scopenergy
                                                        Mount Gambier
    brown coal



black coal




     gas

                           clean brown coal
                    clean black coal

   geothermal nuclear     clean gas
                                   wind



       Electricity Supply Industry Planning Council (2006)
$20/MWhr $40/MWhr $60/MWhr




                 brown coal



             black coal

          CO2 $0/tonne


                  gas

                                        clean brown coal
                                 clean black coal

                geothermal nuclear     clean gas
                                                wind
       $80/MWhr

                      brown coal
   $60/MWhr

$40/MWhr          black coal




                       gas

                                             clean brown coal
                                      clean black coal

                     geothermal nuclear     clean gas
                                                     wind
$40/MWhr   $60/MWhr        $80/MWhr



                          brown coal



                      black coal




                           gas

                                                 clean brown coal
                                          clean black coal

                         geothermal nuclear     clean gas
                                                         wind
            How Will We Make it Work?
•   geothermal gradient (drill cost and water temperature)
•   reservoir permeability (flow rate)
•   generation plant (generation efficiency and cost)
•   grid or market (transmission cost and electricity price)
•   risk management (project portfolios and JVs)
•   sharing expertise (JVs and international expertise)
       Natural Selection
          in Action?

• GDY: known hot rock geothermal
  resource near Innamincka
• PTR: explore for high geothermal
  gradient closer to grid plus off
  grid market
• GRK: cooler hot rocks in vicinity
  Olympic Dam
• PAX: cooler hot rocks in deep
  aquifers in SE
          Thermally Anomalous Granites



    ‘Typical’ granite heat production: 2.65 mWm-3

      UK HHP (High Heat Production) Granites:
         Cornubian granites: 3.7-5.3 mWm-3
         Grampians granites: 4.7-7.8 mWm-3
        Lake District granites: 3.5-4.9 mWm-3

Big Lake Suite   Box Bore Granite      Yerila Granite
Cooper Basin      Mt Painter Area     Mt Painter Area
Carboniferous    Mesoproterozoic      Mesoproterozoic
  11 mWm-3           22 mWm-3            62 mWm-3
Paralana Hot Springs: 62°C
 Sedimentary Basin Over Hot Basement



        Heat Source
                            Insulator




Reservoir
 September 2005
Drilling Campaign

   Yerila-1 &
  Paralana-1B
Yerila-1:      64°C at 675 m (68°C/km)
Paralana-1B:   58°C at 485 m (81°C/km)
target temperatures in the
Adelaidean cover overlying   109°C at 1800m
    basement: HEWI              50°C/km
           Paralana: Future Plans
• drill production and injection wells to 3.5-4 km and
  circulation test (2008-2009)
• Beach Joint Venture & $5M REDI Grant
• consider other JV partners
• develop and commission 5-7.5 MW geothermal
  plant (2009)
• transmission line (10 kms) to Beverley Uranium
  Mine and test to 2010
• towards 260 MW power plant (using 18 MW
  increments) connected to power system at Port
  Augusta via 300km 275 kV line
                        Summary
• HR geothermal offers emissions-free, renewable energy
• slicing deeper into the geothermal resources pyramid
• SA global focus of EGS activity due to its geological
  endowment of hot rocks and licencing legislation
• companies testing a portfolio of geothermal plays: will
  natural selection allow us to slice deeper into the
  geothermal resources pyramid?