Geothermal is Dead, page-2

Unfortunately, I agree with GDY's assessment of geothermal in Australia - too much technical risk and not enough price encouragement, and certainly none from the current federal government.

However I think their Pacific projects are much different than the PTR Spanish project - mainly because the local power markets in Solomons and Vanuatu are already very high-cost due small size and diesel generation with 100 % fuel imports. By comparison, geothermal should be much cheaper, so no subsidies required.

PTR's Canary Islands project seems generally similar but near-term pricing appears to depend on central government subsidies, which have dried up because of government debt (which is partly due to over-generous renewable energy subsidies). However power generation on these islands is still diesel with 100 % fuel imports so you would think geothermal would become a cheaper alternative in the long term as the diesel assets die. I don't understand why PTR doesn't place more weight on this project.

Elsewhere, overseas, geothermal seems to be progressing steadily. It seems to be only an Australian disease. This is a tad embarrassing as next year the next World Geothermal Congress is to be held in Melbourne!