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...original plan was to pump water deep underground under high pressure, in order to crack the granites and create a path for the water to flow. Superheated by contact with the rock, the water would be pumped to the surface from a second well 1 km away, to create steam to drive a power turbine, then be pumped into the earth again...
...that there was no need to add water: it was already there, trapped underground at high pressure for the past 3 million years. Getting the hot water to the surface hasn't been easy, and one well had to be abandoned. But Geodynamics now says the flow from 4 km deep is sufficiently strong and hot to run a 1-MW power station by the end of the year - enough to power the drilling-camp site and Innamincka...
...There are some obvious challenges. Power from coal-fired plants is cheaper. And the closest connection point to the national electricity grid is 500 km away. But Grove-White says geothermal power will become economic once coal and gas plants have to pay for their carbon emissions, which he expects to happen in an Australian carbon-trading scheme due to start in 2010. While the transmission lines will be expensive, their cost - $500 million or more - is included in the business model...
...plans to drill its own well near South Australia's Flinders Ranges later this year and produce commercial amounts of power before Geodynamics does. Petratherm, with projects in Spain and interests in China, already has an agreement to supply 7.5 MW of power to the Beverley uranium mine, 11 km from its drilling site. The company won't go as deep as Geodynamics. Instead, it will try to push its water through 200°C sedimentary rock, just above the hot granites...
...Agency for International Development (USAID) returned to Kajaki in 2002 to pick up where it had left off. The power station needed to be overhauled, the existing turbines repaired, and the third one put in place. In addition, some 150 miles (240 km) of power lines still need to be strung. It's an overwhelming task, but one that is essential for bringing development and thus security to the country. The dam, says Mark Ward of USAID, "is a critical element in our support for Afghanistan, because it will provide the electricity to drive private-sector growth in Helmand...