Another Setback For Geodynamics
Posted by Big Gav in geodynamics, geothermal energy, geothermal power
New Scientist has a report on the latest setback for Geodynamics' pilot geothermal power plant in South Australia (continuing the company's two steps forward, one step back routine) - Geothermal explosion rocks green energy hopes. More at the SMH and WSJ.
The bid to produce green power on a commercial scale using heat mined from subterranean rocks – or "hot rocks" – has suffered a major setback, with the breach of a four-kilometre-deep well on Friday in the Cooper Basin in South Australia.
Mining heat from subterranean rocks could one day provide continuous, affordable energy anywhere on Earth, and Geodynamics, the Brisbane-based company that operates the South Australia well, is widely tipped as being closest to making the technology cost effective.
Geodynamics holds the rights to a potential power supply of up to 10 gigawatts trapped in a 1000-square kilometre slab of hot granite deep under the town of Innamincka in South Australia.
The company was in the final stages of commissioning a demonstration one-megawatt power plant for Innamincka when the rupture occurred, and steam started to escape from the well.
Drilling deep wells into hot rocks and circulating water to mine heat is technically challenging, and the cause of the breach is still unknown.
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