Ann: Salamander-1 Produces First Steam , page-25

Dis. The generating capacity for each production well is 5.9 MWe, as you say.

The plan is that hot brines will be collected from 5 wells to operate one 30 MWe generator set and there will be two such in the first phase. 30 MW is really about the smallest size that can be classed as a commercial demonstration. Utilities will not take a smaller unit seriously. However there will be a 5.9 MW generator installed purely as a pilot plant and to say to the world, "See, the shaft turns. The light globe illuminates."

In much the same way as the steaming photos we have just seen, there will be a blaze of publicity. The Minister on the dais will throw the switch, acolytes will look on adoringly, journalists will write, "Geothermal energy works after all; the proof of the pudding is here. There should be more grants!" Thus the SP catapults again. All the kudos will be Panax's as the first in the sector to supply grid energy.

Let no one ask the question, at what unit cost (high for a single 5.9 MW plant). As the size increases the unit cost decreases. For the 60 MW it will already be down to $83 per MWh. A potential JV partner would only be in it if the generating capacity would be 600 to 1000 MW. That is therefore the aim. We also know as a rule of thumb that 1000 PJ is sufficient for a 100 MW power station for 30 years, and the Penola trough already has a 'measured' resource energy of 11 000 PJ with another 121 000 PJ as indicated and inferred. The Limestone Coast tenements contains another four troughs. PAX also has other prospective tenements in S.A. The potential for development is therefore enormous. PAX is doing it systematically without overstating it or overpromising.

Juke