Multiuse-Use 'Triple Play' Hot Sedimentary Aquifer (HSA) Potential of Victoria, Australia

Abstract

Greenearth Energy Ltd holds geothermal exploration permits to the east and west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. These permits are located on the Otway and Gippsland basins that straddle the southern part of the State. The basin fills range up to 6km thick and form an insulating blanket of Palaeozoic basement rocks. Geothermal gradients are somewhat elevated, with heat flows up to 100 mW/m2 in places, and projected temperatures of 150C at around 3 kilometres (km) depth. Sandy units at the base of the basin sequences offer potential for Hot Sedimentary Aquifers (HSA) while longer term Engineered Geothermal Systems (EGS) prospectivity exists in Palaeozoic granites beneath the insulating sedimentary cover. The HSAs are a ttiple play with potential for electricity generation, direct heat applications and potential CO2 sequestrian sites. A geothermal resource has been estimated for the area south of Geelong, encompassing both HSA and EGS geothermal plays. A propostal has been modelled for a 10.7 MW and 48 MW geothermal development accessing part of the HWA geothermal resource.