Innamincka power plant ready in weeks

Adelaide Advertiser
Friday 17/4/2009 Page: 81

GeoDynamics' 1MW geothermal power plant in northern South Australia is almost complete, and will start "hot commissioning" within the next two weeks. The Brisbane firm said the construction of the pilot plant in the Cooper Basin near Innamincka was complete, apart from the installation of the last two high-pressure heat exchangers, which arrived on site yesterday. "Work on the overhead powerline between the 1MW pilot plant and the township of Innamincka has been completed, with final connection planned to coincide with the commissioning of the plant," the company said yesterday.

GeoDynamics, led by managing director Gerry Grove-White, plans to start supplying Innamincka with free renewable energy by the middle of this year. GeoDynamics also said it had submitted an application for $90 million of funding under the Federal Government's Renewable Energy Demonstration Program. "Following the announcement on March 30 that proof of concept has been achieved in its Cooper Basin project, the company believes it has satisfied all of the eligibility criteria and merit criteria of the program in relation to the development of a commercial demonstration plant," it said. Last week, GeoDynamics received a $560,000 grant from the State Government to pay for half the cost of connecting the pilot plant to Innamincka.