CAMERON ENGLANDJune 19, 2007 02:15amGEOTHERMAL Energy stocks...

CAMERON ENGLAND
June 19, 2007 02:15am
GEOTHERMAL Energy stocks have enjoyed rapid gains recently after federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd placed the renewable-energy source on the pre-election agenda.

Mr Rudd's May 31 proclamation that he would put $50 million into the geothermal sector if elected prompted immediate share-price gains for geothermal stocks.

Since then, geothermal companies have continued to appreciate in value.

Shares in South Australia-focused Green Rock Energy have been the fastest mover among the pure geothermal plays, adding 76.2 per cent since the start of the month.

Green Rock is working on a geothermal project which it hopes initially will supply BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam copper, gold and uranium mine with power.

Arguably, the two most-advanced companies, Geodynamics and Adelaide-based Petratherm, also have enjoyed good price gains.

Brisbane-based Geodynamics has risen 34.8 per cent in value while Petratherm stock is up 46.1 per cent.

Shares in Torrens Energy, which has geothermal exploration licences not far from Port Augusta, increased 36.4 per cent in value.

Adelaide-based Geothermal Resources, which was a spin-off from Havilah Resources, was last week handed a speeding ticket by the Australian Securities Exchange after its shares leapt 26 per cent to $$1.89 over the period, but they fell sharply yesterday.

Taylor Collison resources analyst Andrew Shearer said with Labor talking up the issue, he would not be surprised to see the Federal Government make an announcement about it soon.

"There's five pure geothermal stocks listed and they've all had a bit of a run," Mr Shearer said.

"I think it could be Rudd coming in there, it could be the fact that there have been a few articles around that say that it's the only one (alternative energy source) that can deliver base-load power as opposed to wind and solar.

"And it's an easy story to understand as well."

Professor Jefferson Tester, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told a lunch hosted by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia in Adelaide yesterday that geothermal energy resources were effectively unlimited but some technical challenges remained.

Professor Tester said the key technical challenger now was to emulate the productivity of a good natural geothermal system.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,21927428-5003680,00.html