Title:

Regulatory Nirvana for Geothermal Resource Development

Authors:

Barry GOLDSTEIN, Michael MALAVAZOS, Belinda HAYTER, Alexandra. LONG, and Betina BENDALL

Key Words:

fracture stimulation, EGS, regulation, land access, stakeholder engagement

Geo Location:

Australia

Conference:

Stanford Geothermal Workshop

Year:

2012

Session:

Enhanced Geothermal Systems

Language:

English

Paper Number:

Goldstein

File Size:

656 KB

View File:

Abstract:

The enormous worldwide prospectivity to develop all forms of geothermal resources underpins realistic expectations for the security of competitive base-load energy supplies for centuries to come. Proof-of-concept and pre-competitive enhanced (engineered) geothermal system (EGS) projects near to communities unfamiliar with fracture stimulation operations has put pressure on governments to nimbly and simultaneously attain sustainable social, natural and economic outcomes. Nirvana regulatory frameworks for profitable and environmentally sustainable development operations for all forms of geothermal energy resource development entail: • Attractive licence tenure; • Regulatory certainty and efficiency without taint of capture by special interests; • Regulators and licensees have trustworthy capabilities (competence and capacity); • Effective (informative) stakeholder consultation well-ahead of land access; • Public access to details of risks and reliable research to back-up risk management strategies so the basis for regulation is contestable anytime, everywhere; • Timely notice of entry with sufficient operational details to effectively inform stakeholders; • Potentially affected people and organizations can object to land access - without support for vexatious objections; • Fair and expeditious dispute resolution processes; • Fair compensation to affected land-users for costs, losses, and deprivation due to operations; • Risks are reduced to low or as low as reasonably practicable while also meeting community expectations for net outcomes; • Licensees monitor and report on the efficacy of their risk management processes, while the regulator probes same; • Regulator can prevent and stop operations, require restitution, levy fines and cancel licenses; and • Industry compliance records are made public, so the efficacy of regulation is transparent. Regulation for compatible, multiple-use of land in Australia is undertaken with community ownership of subsurface resources in mind. Indeed, net benefits to communities are the foundation of good government policy. This is the end-in-mind for South Australia’s Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act 2000 (the P&GE Act, as amended in 2009). This paper will describe how the above-stated principles are deployed in South Australia (Figure 1) where: • Since implementing South Australia’s Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act 2000 (the P&GE Act) in September 2000, more than 11,000 notices of entry for petroleum and geothermal operations have been issued with only one triggering a Court hearing, and that was a matter taken to the District Court of South Australia to establish legal precedent (certainty) that reflection seismic surveys could extend outside a license area to attain full-fold control within a license; • 86% ($581 million) of $679 million estimated to have been spent nationally for all geothermal work program investment in Australia has been invested in SA-based projects in the term January 2002 – December 2010; • SA-based projects attracting 97% of the $198.8m for Australian Government grants to foster the commercialization of geothermal energy; • Australia’s flagship deep drilling projects are located: Geodynamics/Origin in the Cooper Basin, Petratherm/Beach in the Flinders Range, and Panax Geothermal in the Otway Basin (Figure 1); and • The number of South Australian geothermal licenses grew from 3 in 2004 to 209 at year-end 2011, despite the decline in overall investment in geothermal in Australia since the global financial crisis since 2008. The introduction of new energy development technolo


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