The Benefits

"Geothermal energy has the potential to generate and deliver sustainable supplies of clean, renewable base load power. Depending on the nature of the resource and the reservoir, individual production wells have the potential to generate consistent supplies of base load power for decades."

The long term commercial viability of geothermal power generation depends on the ability to extract heat from underground in a thermally sustainable manner at the temperatures required to generate the power. Other factors include rock temperatures, the flow rate of the water through the rocks and the volume of rocks accessed by the injected water. The water flow rate depends on the quality, quantity and distribution of permeable flow paths in the hot rocks at depth.

Around 10,000 MWe are produced from geothermal energy plants around the world! Most of these are from hydrothermal systems. The most advanced hot rock projects in the World are in the Cooper Basin in South Australia and at Soultz sous Forêts in the Rhine Graben in France where circulation systems have been established in granite reservoirs at depths near 5,000 metres.

As geothermal power generation technology improves, geothermal energy will become a growing source of renewable energy for Australia’s economy.

Understanding Base Load Energy

Unlike nearly all other forms of renewable energy, geothermal energy delivers constant base load power.

Base load energy is the delivery of energy over a full 24 hour period; i.e. the energy is supplied continuously for the full 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. Base load electricity suppliers, like geothermal power plants, meet this demand by generating a steady quantity of power regardless of demand fluctuations.

Minimal impact on the environment

Base load electricity generated from geothermal energy is clean, renewable and has minimal impact on the environment. The closed loop circulation of fluids is environmentally benign. Unlike burning fossil fuels, the process emits no greenhouse gases, pollution or hazardous wastes.

Geothermal power plants have small footprints compared to coal, nuclear, wind farms and wave generation.

Geothermal injection and projection wells are lined with metal casing and cement so that the circulation fluids are isolated from ground water used for other purposes and the environment.