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Geothermal energy systems
Speaker abstracts and biographies
Chair: Susan Jeanes, Chief Executive, Australian Geothermal Energy Association
Susan Jeanes is the Chief Executive of the Australian Geothermal Energy Association (AGEA) the national body representing the Australian geothermal energy industry.
Susan has previously worked in the political arena serving in the Federal Parliament as the Member for Kingston and working as an Advisor to the former Environment and Heritage Minister Robert Hill on climate change and energy policy. She has tertiary qualifications in the areas of Australian politics, political theory and environmentalism.
Susan is a Director of The Climate Institute and a Member of the CSIRO’s Energy and Transport Sector Advisory Council. She is also a Director of both the Institute of Minerals and Energy Resources and the Geothermal Research Centre at the University of Adelaide.
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The Geelong Geothermal Power Project: Baseload, Renewable Zero Emissions Electricity Potential for Victoria
Stage 1
Stage 2
Greenearth Energy’s Geelong Geothermal Power Project is targeting to become Victoria’s first grid connected geothermal energy plant.
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Mark Miller, Managing Director, Greenearth Energy Ltd
Mark Miller oversees the strategic and day to day running of Greenearth Energy Ltd to become one of Australasia’s foremost geothermal exploration and development organisations. Deliverables include project capital raising and all government, industry, investment and community engagement activities domestically and internationally. Other responsibilities include: Vice President & Director - PT Geo Power Indonesia, and Director - Pacific Heat and Power.
Mark has extensive senior management experience across a number of industries both domestically and internationally including downstream oil marketing, consumer products manufacturing and distribution, banking and finance as well as environmental technology. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree (Maj Geology) form La Trobe University, Melbourne.
Panax Geothermal’s Developments is Australia, Indonesia and India
Panax is recognised as the pioneer of Hot Sedimentary Aquifers (“HSAs”) in Australia. This presentation will showcase Panax’s portfolio of HSA developments in Australia and its conventional geothermal projects in Northern Sumatra, Flores (Indonesia) and the Himalayas (India).
The HSA projects in Australia comprise:
- Penola
The Penola Project is a unique HSA project located in the Otway Basin of South Australia. The project is associated with “Measured Geothermal Resources” as defined by the AGEA code. This project is hosted by reservoir rocks, well known from previous petroleum activities. Feasibility studies have shown that this project could produce clean base-load power, at costs cheaper than wind. A 4,025m deep well was completed in March, 2010, and first steam was produced in April, 2010. Well productivity testing is underway at the time of writing this abstract.
The Moomba HSA project focuses on Jurassic sandstones associated with the “Great Artesian Basin” in Australia. This basin is well known from hydrological studies as well as from petroleum drilling. This project focuses on medium temperature (145°C) geothermal brine, for generating geothermal power as a replacement for diesel generation.
Activities in Northern Sumatra, Flores (Indonesia) and in the Himalayas target conventional “brown field” geothermal projects, again for replacing local diesel power generation.
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Dr Bertus de Graaf, Managing Director, Panax Geothermal
Bertus de Graaf has been involved in geothermal exploration and development since 2000. He was the founding Managing Director of Geodynamics (2000), the first publicly listed company in the world targeting engineered geothermal systems, which he managed until 2006. During his term, Geodynamics developed the largest underground heat exchanger (EGS) in the world.
Since December 2007, Bertus has been Managing Director of Panax Geothermal Ltd (ASX:PAX), which focuses on conventional geothermal resources in Australia (Penola Project), Indonesia and India.
Prior to his geothermal interests, Bertus was involved in gold mining and exploration in his capacity of Managing Director of Ross Mining N.L (1986-2000), which developed four gold mines, and in international mineral exploration and development with Shell Billiton form 1972 to 1986.
Direct use of geothermal energy in Australia - Direct Geoexchange
The heat pumps are "direct geo-exchange systems" where refrigerant is run through underground copper pipes. Direct Energy’s geothermal heat pumps rely on the ground’s solar temperature by drilling only 30 metres into the ground where the sun’s energy is consistently stored. This heat extraction from the ground means the energy doesn’t run out, making it the most reliable renewable technology - available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, compared with solar and wind which rely on the sun shining and the wind blowing.
Direct Energy’s innovative geothermal solution provides affordable and energy efficient heating and cooling solutions to the residential and commercial markets. Direct Energy’s innovative heat pump design gives people and small business owners the opportunity to hedge against soaring electricity prices, save up to 70% on energy bills, reduce their carbon footprint and make a real difference.
Having just completed two successful geothermal projects with the CSIRO and a number of residential and commercial properties, the potential to roll out the product to Victoria and nationally is a real opportunity. CSIRO’s partnership with Direct Energy to deliver geothermal technology successfully signifies their endorsement of the Direct Energy product and services.
Based on US Department of Energy studies, if Australia invests in Direct Energy’s geothermal heat pumps as a solution for all Australian homes, we could save up to 24 million tonnes of carbon emissions. This means Direct Energy could contribute to meeting 75 per cent of Australia’s 2020 renewable energy target and if we included commercial and government buildings and projects our surpassing this target is immeasurable.
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Donald Payne, Technical Director, Direct Energy
Donald Payne graduated from the University of Melbourne with degrees in physics & electrical engineering and subsequently a Ph.D in physics (plasma and astro).
Dr. Payne developed a passion for Geothermal Heat Pumps (GHPs) and has developed a substantial suite of expertise in this technology & industry. Being elected to the Australian Geothermal Energy Group & Association in December 2007, he now compiles the direct use component of the IEA-GIA Australian annual reports and widely presented the industry position paper. He has lectured a 1-day course on direct geoexchange to over 140 engineers, architects, energy consultants, plumbers, refrigeration mechanics and others and is collaborating with researchers at the University of Melbourne, CSIRO and other industry partners.
Since May 2009, Dr. Payne has been collaborating with the CSIRO on a direct geoexchange cooling system for 36 x 12-m antennas in the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). This was presented at the Australian Geothermal Conference in November 2009. Dr. Payne’s role in the School of Physics at the University of Melbourne is evolving towards geothermal research.
