Renewable Energy Development Initiative grants Petratherm Ltd 5 Million dollars for a new geothermal energy project

摘要

The Australian Government will provide a 5 million dollars grant to an innovative new geothermal energy project in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. Resources Minister, Ian Macfarlane, and Environment and Water Resources Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, announced the grant to Petratherm Ltd through the Howard Government's Renewable Energy Development Initiative. The grant will enable the energy exploration company, Petratherm, to further develop its ground-breaking approach of using geothermal energy at its Paralana site in the Flinders Ranges. The project will create more than 200 jobs in its initial stage. Mr Macfarlane said the new technique, known as 'Heat Exchanger Within Insulator', is a creative departure from existing approaches. Heat is collected from hot sedimentary rock layers at shallower depths of 3-4 kms, rather than harder granites at much greater depths.