GEOSCIENCE AUSTRALIA Sir Mark Oliphant Conferences – International Frontiers of Science and Technology Proceedings of the Sir Mark Oliphant International Frontiers of Science and Technology Australian Geothermal Energy Conference Record 2008/18 Gurgenci, H. and Budd, A.R. APPLYING GEOSCIENCE TO AUSTRALIA’S MOST IMPORTANT CHALLENGES Proceedings of the Sir Mark Oliphant International Frontiers of Science and Technology Australian Geothermal Energy Conference GEOSCIENCE AUSTRALIA RECORD 2008/18 Edited by Hal Gurgenci 1 and Anthony Budd 2 1 Queensland Geothermal Energy Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072 2 Geoscience Australia, GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT 2601 Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism Minister for Resources and Energy: The Hon. Martin Ferguson, AM MP Secretary: Dr Peter Boxall Geoscience Australia Chief Executive Officer: Dr Neil Williams PSM © Commonwealth of Australia, 2008 This work is copyright. Apart from any fair dealings for the purpose of study, research, criticism, or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Copyright is the responsibility of the Chief Executive Officer, Geoscience Australia. Requests and enquiries should be directed to the Chief Executive Officer, Geoscience Australia, GPO Box 378 Canberra ACT 2601. Geoscience Australia has tried to make the information in this product as accurate as possible. However, it does not guarantee that the information is totally accurate or complete. Therefore, you should not solely rely on this information when making a commercial decision. ISSN 1448-2177 ISBN 978 1 921498 19 0 GeoCat # 67255 Recommended bibliographic reference: Gurgenci, H. and Budd, A.R. (editors), 2008. Proceedings of the Sir Mark Oliphant International Frontiers of Science and Technology Australian Geothermal Energy Conference, Geoscience Australia, Record 2008/18, 215 pp. Recommended bibliographic citation: Alehossein, H. and Hooman, K. 2008. Coupled Thermomechanical Boundary Element Modelling (BEM), in: Gurgenci and Budd (editors), Proceedings of the Sir Mark Oliphant International Frontiers of Science and Technology Australian Geothermal Energy Conference, Geoscience Australia, Record 2008/18, 23-27. Cover illustration: 3D image of gravity inversion modelling in southern Cooper Basin region of South Australia, viewed obliquely from the west. The maroon bodies enclose regions of low density interpreted as granites located at depth beneath Cooper Basin sediments. The interpreted granites are shown projected above an image of the Bouguer Gravity field, from which the inversion model was generated. Courtesy of Tony Meixner, Geoscience Australia. Australian Geothermal Energy Conference 2008 The Convenors would like to thank the following sponsors for their kind support: Gold Sponsors Silver Sponsors Bronze Sponsors Student Supporter Thursday Happy Hour Sponsor Australian Geothermal Energy Conference 2008 Introduction This volume is a compilation of Extended Abstracts presented at the 2008 Australian Geothermal Energy Conference, 19-22 August 2008, Rydges Hotel, Melbourne, organised by the Australian Geothermal Energy Association and the Australian Geothermal Energy Group. This Conference is the first dedicated conference organised by the geothermal energy community in Australia and has been made possible by seed funding from the Australian Government under the Sir Mark Oliphant International Frontiers of Science and Technology Conference funding scheme with additional sponsorship of the companies acknowledged earlier and paying delegates. This Conference is being held at a time of rapid growth in all sectors of the geothermal community. The number of companies engaged in exploration stands at 33, the number of leases held or applied for is 320, and the value of the work program for these companies exceeds $850 million between 2002-2013. The Australian Geothermal Energy Association has been incorporated to serve as the peak industry representative body. The Universities of Queensland, West Australia, Adelaide and Newcastle have new funding specifically for geothermal research programs. The Australian Government has continued its strong support of the sector through the Geothermal Industry Development Framework and Technology Roadmap, the Geothermal Drilling Program, and the Onshore Energy Security Program. All of the States now have legislation regulating geothermal exploration activity in place, and the Northern Territory has drafted legislation for presentation to parliament. This volume of Extended Abstracts starts with a summary snapshot of the global and national geothermal energy sectors. The rest of the volume is organised under three headings: • Underground Science and Technology • Power Conversion Technologies • Legislation, Policy and Infrastructure As editors of these proceedings, we first would like to thank the Technical Committee who have been very generous with their time to review the submissions and to work with the authors of the accepted submissions to improve the quality of the Abstracts and the presentations. We also thank the Conference Chair Alan Knights and the rest of the Organising Committee who were brave enough to take on the job organising this inaugural event on behalf of the Australian Geothermal Energy Association and the Australian Geothermal Energy Group. Jem Hansen and Impact Environment Conferences have done an excellent job in assisting the organisation. We also thank again the sponsoring companies for their generous support. We thank Geoscience Australia for printing the proceedings. Finally, we thank all delegates without whose participation none of this is worthwhile. Anthony Budd Hal Gurgenci i Australian Geothermal Energy Conference 2008 CONFERENCE ORGANISING COMMITTEE Alan Knights (Chair), Green Rock Energy Ltd Dr Graeme Beardsmore, Hot Dry Rocks Pty Ltd Dr Anthony Budd, Geoscience Australia Emma Cordon, Hot Dry Rocks Pty Ltd Jim Driscoll, Hot Dry Rocks Pty Ltd Damia Ettakadoumi, Victorian Department of Primary Industries Professor Hal Gurgenci, Queensland Geothermal Energy Centre of Excellence Tony Hill, Primary Industries and Resources South Australia Dr Fiona Holgate, Geoscience Australia Susan Jeanes, Australian Geothermal Energy Association PROGRAM TECHNICAL PANEL Professor Hal Gurgenci (Chair), Queensland Geothermal Energy Centre of Excellence Dr Graeme Beardsmore, Hot Dry Rocks Pty Ltd Dr Anthony Budd, Geoscience Australia Dr Prame Chopra, Geodynamics Limited and Earthinsite.com Pty Ltd Professor Richard Hillis, Australian School of Petroleum Dr Fiona Holgate, Geoscience Australia Chris Matthews, Torrens Energy Limited Professor Behdad Moghtaderi, The University of Newcastle Professor Graham (Gus) Nathan, The University of Adelaide Professor Klaus Regenauer-Lieb, The University of Western Australia Peter Reid, Petratherm Ltd Professor Victor Rudolph, The University of Queensland Dr Adrian Williams, Geodynamics Ltd Dr Doone Wyborn, Geodynamics Ltd CONFERENCE ORGANISERS Jem Hansen & Dawn Hallinan, Impact Environmental Conferences ii Australian Geothermal Energy Conference 2008 Contents Introduction ............................................... i National Outlook Budd, A.R., Holgate, F.L., Gerner, E., Ayling, B.F. and Barnicoat, A. Pre-competitive Geoscience for Geothermal Exploration and Development in Australia: Geoscience Australia’s Onshore Energy Security Program and the Geothermal Energy Project ..........1 Goldstein, B.A., Hill, A.J., Budd, A.R., Holgate, F.L., and Malavazos, M. The National Outlook - Australia’s Hot Rocks ............................ 9 Tester, J.W. The Future of Geothermal Energy as a Major Global Energy Supplier ................19 Underground Science and Technology Alehossein, H. and Hooman, K. Coupled Thermomechanical Boundary Element Modelling (BEM) .................23 Asanuma, H., Kumano, Y., Niitsuma, H., Wyborn, D., Schanz, U. and Haring, M. Current Status of Microseismic Monitoring Techniques for the Stimulation of HDR/HFR Reservoirs ............................................... 29 Baria, R., Petty, S. and Beardsmore, G.R. Economic and Technical Cases for the Commercial Exploitation of Engineered Geothermal Systems . 37 Beardsmore, G. R. Hot Rock Exploration Methods .................................... 39 Cibich, W., Malavazos, M., and McDonough, R. A Steady-State Pressure Model for Water Flow in a Hydraulically Fractured Geothermal Reservoir. 43 de Graaf, B. and Gunter, J. The Limestone Coast Project – a unique geothermal project targeting ‘blind’ geothermal resources. 51 Ghori, K.A.R. Perth Basin’s Geothermal Resources ................................. 55 Gibson, H., Stüwe, K., Seikel, R., FitzGerald, D., Calcagno, P., Guillen, A. and McInerney, P. Forward Prediction of Temperature Distribution Direct From 3D Geology Models ........63 Gordon, K. The Thermal Structure of Continental Lithosphere: a Review ....................71 Häring, M.O., Ladner, F. and Schanz, U. Lessons Learnt from the Deep Heat Mining EGS Project in Basel, Switzerland ...........77 Hidalgo R. and Ungemach P. Madrid Basin District Heating Potential ................................ 79 Hillis, R.R. In-Situ Stress in Australia and Subsurface Fluid Flow ......................... 81 Horowitz, F.G., Regenauer-Lieb, K., Wellmann, J.F., Chua, H.T., Wang, X. and Poulet, T. Evidence for Hydrothermal Convection in the Perth Basin, Australia ................85 iii Australian Geothermal Energy Conference 2008 Larking, A. Hydraulic Fracturing at the