Australian geothermal energy developer Geodynamics says its 1MW pilot plant at Innamincka, featuring the deepest lying geothermal resources ever exploited, is operating ahead of expectations.
“The operation of the plant has met or exceeded all planned operational parameters, demonstrating stable and effective control of the closed brine loop, and high reliability and availability of the steam generation and turbine system,” the company said in a statement on Monday.
“The commissioning of the 1 MW Pilot Plant and successful operation of the trial is a major advancement in EGS (enhanced geothermal systems, or hot rocks) technology globally. We are very pleased with the performance of the plant during the trial and in particular the performance of the Habanero-4 well, the most productive well yet drilled by Geodynamics.”
CEO Geoff Ward said the success of trial demonstrates the “practical capability” of EGS resources to supply reliable long term power. He said the work is attracting significant interest in Australia and overseas, and proves the potential to provide large scale, baseload power. For Australia, it means that we could be able to provide very large scale power for many decades with zero emissions”.
The media release came as the company hosts a visit from Federal energy minister Gary Gray, and representatives of the Clean Energy Finance Corp, and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
Gray said the pilot plant was impressive because of its remote location and because “it’s allowed the exploitation of a deep, hot resource that otherwise would simply have been unknown and unremarkable”.
Geodynamics has also released an interesting 7 minute video which gives an overview of the project. You can look at it here, or click on the image below.
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