Panax begins drilling in Penola
Posted: 1 February 2010
Panax Geothermal's Salamander 1 drilling rig has broken ground at the first deep production well at the company's Penola Project in South Australia’s Otway Basin.
The spudding began on yesterday evening with drilling operations now underway on a 24 hour basis.
Panax Geothermal Managing Director Dr Bertus de Graaf said the drilling was a great reward for shareholders and for the drilling team.
"The operation of Salamander 1 in Penola exemplifies the progress Panax Geothermal has made and positions us as the most advanced geothermal energy explorer in Australia," de Graaf said.
"Achieving this milestone is the next step in delivering base load geothermal power to the grid."
Salamander 1 is the first well in Australia to test a Hot Sedimentary Aquifer (HSA) which relies on extracting existing hot water from an existing aquifer or HAS reservoir.
The well is designed with the aim of converting the Penola Project’s "Measured Geothermal Resources" into "Geothermal Reserves" sufficient to commence the development of a 5.9 MW plant.
Dr de Graaf said the proximity of the Penola Project to the National Electricity Market Management Company (NEMMCO) meant it was one of the only renewable energy projects in the country capable of powering thousands of homes.
"This is the first step in making geothermal power a reality for the Australian public and simultaneously reducing carbon emmissions," he said.
An independently reviewed pre-feasibility study has shown Panax’s Penola Project has the potential to generate Australia’s cheapest clean energy.
Panax has a measured geothermal resource of 11,000 petajoules at the Penola Project which has the capacity to deliver hundreds of megawatts of zero emission power.
The Penola Project in GEL223 covers an area of 493 sq km and is part of Panax’s larger Limestone Coast Geothermal Project, which covers a total area of 3,127 sq km.
Panax’s focus is on exploring exisiting reservoirs containing hot geothermal fluids, which have fewer risks than hot fractured rock geothermal projects and a much shorter development time.
The company acquired the ‘Lightning’ drilling rig for Salamander 1 from United States based owner Weatherford International Drilling in 2009.
Posted by Richard Price, Editor, EnergyME.com
Information supplied by companies or PR agencies who are responsible for content.
Send press releases to richard@energyme.com |
