Geodynamics Funded $10 million For Hunter Valley Project

 

Geodynamics Limited has been awarded a $10 million grant by the New South Wales Government to develop a commercial hot rocks geothermal project in the Hunter Valley region of NSW.
The NSW government will invest $27 million in seven renewable energy projects, including $10 million for Geodynamics to develop its Hunter Valley tenements.
Geodynamics Managing Director Gerry Grove-White said the funding will be staged over the life of the project with the full amount expected to be received following the commissioning of a small geothermal power plant in the Hunter Valley in 2012.
He said the awarding of the funding will allow Geodynamics to accelerate the exploration and development of its resource in the Hunter Valley.
“The first stage of this will be the drilling of a 2km exploration well in early 2009 to confirm temperature gradients,” he said.
Mr Grove-White said Geodynamics was close to achieving major milestones at its key project in the Cooper Basin region of South Australia, including the successful completion of the ‘proof of concept’ stage.
He said a 1 MW pilot plant to power the company’s joint venture operations with Origin Energy in the outback town of Innamincka is planned to be commissioned from February 1, 2009, and the town powered by geothermal energy by March 31, 2009.
Mr Grove-White said there was strong evidence that the Company’s Hunter Valley tenements at Bulga and Muswellbrook may also hold significant geothermal resources.
“Geodynamics intends to pursue this potential and the funding from the NSW Government will enable us to continue our work in the Hunter Valley,” he said.
Mr Grove-White said the knowledge and expertise Geodynamics has achieved in the Cooper Basin over the past five years will be used in the development of the Hunter Valley project.
“As the development continues in the Cooper Basin, learnings will continue to be achieved and applied to the Hunter Valley,” he said.
Hot rock geothermal energy is produced using heat extracted from buried hot granites by circulating waters through an engineered, artificial reservoir or underground heat exchanger. Geodynamics has created the largest of these reservoirs in the world at its Cooper Basin site.