Origin Energy has followed the path of the smaller geothermal brigade and established an offshore joint venture to try and capture the more easily developed volcanic resources of the Pacific ?ring of fire?. Origin has teamed up with Tata, another major shareholder in Australian firm Geodynamics, and PT Supraco to form a consortium that has been awarded a geothermal concession in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
The partners believe the Sorik Marapi concession could support the development of 200?300 MW of geothermal generation capacity. Origin will hold a 47.5% effective interest. Testing will be conducted over the next 18 months and construction could begin in late 2012, which is quicker than any other comparable development in Australia. Origin operates ?conventional? geothermal projects in New Zealand through its majority owned Contact Energy, and says it is confident geothermal can emerge as a major source of baseload energy.
Tata Power says it aims to achieve at least 25% of generation portfolio through renewable sources of energy by 2017,with geothermal energy being one of the prime renewable growth engines. Indonesia is is expected to have approximately 27,000 MW of potential conventional geothermal resources ? but only has 1,196 MW in operation. However, it is offering generous tariffs to bring energy to areas which hitherto have had none or has had to rely on more expensive diesel plants."
