The Limestone Coast Geothermal Project, South Australia: a Unique Hot Sedimentary Aquifer Development
- Key words
- Geothermal development, Limestone Coast, Penola Trough, South Australia, Pre-feasibility Study, hot sedimentary aquifers, Panax Geothermal Ltd.
- Location
- Penola Trough, Australia
- Conference
- World Geothermal Congress
- Year
- 2010
- Session
- 31. EGS - Enhanced Geothermal Systems (Hot Dry Rock)
- Language
- English
- Paper number
- 3134
Full text
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Abstract
Panax Geothermal Ltd (“Panax”) holds the geothermal rights covering four Hot Sedimentary Aquifers (HSA) within troughs or sub-basins in the Otway Basin in southeast South Australia, covering an area of more than 3,000 km2. The Limestone Coast Geothermal Project is designed to demonstrate that conventional geothermal resources within Australias hot sedimentary basins can be used to generate large amounts of competitively priced, zero-emission, base-load power. Due to an existing comprehensive database acquired by the petroleum industry, the initial development of its Limestone Coast Geothermal Project is focused on the Penola Trough (GEL223).
The first well, Salamander-1, is the first in a series of wells in the development of a 50 MWe geothermal power plant, which could become the first grid connected geothermal power plant in Australia.
A Pre-Feasibility study has also been completed to assess the total cost per MWh of power produced after taking into account all plant and pump requirements. This study found that electricity can be sustainably generated at a total cost (capital and operating) of AUD$63 per MWh.
The Penola Trough has been subjected to intensive oil and gas exploration, including 27 deep petroleum wells with wireline logging and conventional core measurements of reservoir porosity and permeability. In addition, there are 271 km2 of 3D seismic and a significant amount of 2D seismic data. These data are available as part of the Open File data base and studies have shown that the over 1,000m thick Cretaceous Pretty Hill Formation (sandstones) of the Penola Trough has the capacity to deliver geothermal waters of >140˚C at high volumes, sufficient for the operation of a commercial, medium temperature geothermal power plant. The generating potential is large, as is evidenced by a recent independent Geothermal Resource assessment, which has estimated a “Measured Geothermal Resource” of 11,000 PJ for the Penola Trough.
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