Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Australia: Interesting Views on Closure of Habanero Geothermal Project

Geothermal power project closes in SA as technology deemed not financially viable (ABC Online)

Geodynamics achieved small-scale electricity generation at its Cooper Basin sites.
(Supplied: Geodynamics)
Energy company Geodynamics closed and remediated the sites of several test wells and generation plants in the Cooper Basin after deciding they were not financially viable.

"The technology worked but unfortunately the cost of implementing the technology and also the cost of delivering the electricity that was produced to a market was just greater than the revenue stream that we could create," Geodynamics chief executive Chris Murray said.

Professor Martin Hand ran the South Australian Centre for Geothermal Energy Research at the University of Adelaide.

"I think it was talked up too much — it's a very nice concept on the front page of a newspaper, looks very easy to do, and I think it was over-spruiked [~ Repetitive promoting of an achievement or occurrence to the point of nausea and disinterest, particularly by a Government]," he said.

"If we could see [geothermal] as some kind of national resource, and therefore it's some kind of national research project, there is a vast amount of energy that could be potentially unlocked."