geothermal glimmer of hope

From the Australian....


"Geothermal's glimmer of hope
BY: ROBIN BROMBY From: The Australian October 05, 2012 12:24PM
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NOT so much light at the end of the tunnel ? more a glimmer of hope.

But that’s about as good as Australia’s geothermal sector can hope for at present. What was once seemed the answer to Australia’s energy/greenhouse gas problems – that is, non-polluting base load power from heat extracted from thousands of metres below the ground – has turned into an investment wasteland.

Everyone agrees it’s a great idea and will one day deliver on its promise. But when that might be remains a mystery.

Moreover, what progress there is by our companies tend to be abroad – Spain, Chile, Indonesia and Argentina - rather than at home.

Nevertheless, two steps forward today.

First, Petratherm (PTR) advises its two largest shareholders, Minotaur Exploration (15.27 per cent) and Australian Ethical (7.13 per cent) have confirmed they will front up with cheques for the PTR rights issue, guaranteeing $324,773 of the $1.48 million being sought.

Petratherm has the Paralana project in Australia and another geothermal effort on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

Earth Heat Resources (HER) says it’s likely to sign the first stage of a power agreement covering capacity of 20 megawatts in Argentina. The company has already completed four deep wells on the northeast flank of the Copahue volcano.

The other project moving forward is the Indonesian geothermal push by Panax Geothermal (PAX) with power purchase agreements the next step.

But there have been disappointments, too, in recent times.

Origin Energy (ORG) pulled out of the Innaminka Deeps project four months ago, and now Geodynamics (GDY) is forging on alone. Last week Kuth Energy (KEN) learned that its successful bid for a geothermal project on Saipan had turned to dust.

The government utility in the Northern Marianas Islands had canned the project and appears to have opted to instead go with additional diesel power generation. This followed the withdrawal by its partner announced by Hot Rock (HRL) after the world’s largest integrated geothermal company, Energy Development Corp of the Philippines, decided not to invest in HRL’s Chocopata project in "