Australia's Four Geothermal and Wave Energy Flagship Projects

After a long process of application and waiting, four flagship projects have been awarded $128 million (USD) in grants by the Australian Government.

The projects were selected from 61 possible applicants to the Australian Renewable Energy Demonstration Program (REDP), which has been deliberating since last April.

This funding – combined with money from other successful applicants – will deliver approximately $810 million in renewable energy investment in Australia. It will also deliver almost 80 MW of new renewable generation from wave technology, geothermal sources, and an integrated mini-grid project involving wind, solar, biodiesel and storage technologies.

The Four Projects:

1. Petratherm (ASX:PTR) - $62.762 million grant subject to successful offer negotiations

   The 30MW Paralana Geothermal Energy Project is an engineered geothermal system (EGS) project, based on Petratherm's ‘Heat Exchanger Within Insulator’ (HEWI) model.  The Paralana project is located adjacent to the Beverley uranium mine.

   Demonstration of the Paralana project will provide a sound foundation upon which to underpin the large-scale development and deployment of geothermal energy in Australia.
   

2. Geodynamics Limited (ASX:GDY) - $90.000 million grant subject to successful offer negotiations

   The Geodynamics Cooper Basin 25 MW Geothermal Demonstration Project will demonstrate the potential for hot-rock geothermal energy to be a major generator of zero-emission, base-load power.  The project will be the world’s first multi-well hot fractured rock power project.

   This geothermal project will be located in the north east corner of South Australia in the Cooper Basin, between Moomba and Innamincka, where Geodynamics has assessed its resource as holding geothermal energy sufficient to support several thousand megawatts of electricity generating capacity.

3. Victorian Wave Partners Pty Ltd - $66.465 million grant subject to successful offer negotiations

   Ocean Power Technologies (Australasia) [Nasdaq:OPTT] and its partner Leighton Contractors will construct the first commercial scale ocean energy project in Australia. 

   The 19 MW Victorian Wave Power Demonstration Project involves the staged construction and demonstration of wave power generation using Ocean Power Technologies PowerBuoy technology off Portland, Victoria.

4. The Hydro-Electric Corporation (Hydro Tasmania) - $15.280 million grant subject to successful offer negotiations

   The King Island Renewable Energy Integration Project will demonstrate the potential for enabling technologies to help integrate renewable technologies into established electricity networks and mini-grid systems in remote areas.

   The King Island project is to integrate wind, solar and storage with a biodiesel generator to provide baseload and peak power for the King Island mini grid system, which currently uses diesel generators for its primary energy supply.  The integration of these energy sources will require the provision of innovative control mechanisms for load and frequency control. 

"These projects will diversify Australia's energy supply and help deliver the Government’s expanded Renewable Energy Target of 20% by 2020,” The Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, said. “The REDP will support the commercialization of renewable energy and help accelerate the deployment of new renewable energy technologies for power generation in Australia.”

Source: Australian Minister for Resources and Energy Press Release