Australian company explores geothermal power potential in Vanuatu
Updated
Australian company KUTh Energy has been granted two licences to explore the hot springs on Vanuatu's Efate Island to discover which hot springs can produce enough geothermal energy to generate electricity. The benefits include a reduced reliance on imported fuel, less environmental impact and an increase in the number of people with access to electricity.
Presenter Kate McPherson
Speakers: Managing Director of KUTh Energy David McDonald, Vanuatu Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources Director-General Russell Nari
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KATE McPHERSON: Geothermal energy is the energy stored and flowing as heat beneath the surface of the earth. Producing electricity using geothermal energy means no gas emissions and a very small carbon footprint. Australian company KUTh Energy will be exploring hot springs in the Taiuma and Takara areas of the main island of Efate in Vanuatu. Managing director of KUTh Energy, David McDonald, is confident that the springs will be hot enough to generate electricity. If you were to go and identify those spring areas where we're talking about it's not something that you could put your bathers on and jump into. It's very, very hot so we know we have hot water at surface. Our next stage will be to do some geophysical surveys and then do some shallow drilling to determine just what heat is at depth. But we would expect to be finding temperatures in and around in the order of 180-200 degrees.
KATE McPHERSON: Approximately three-quarters of the population in Vanuatu are not connected to grid electricity. There is a possibility of reticulating energy across a broader area of the island using geothermal power.
DAVID McDONALD: That will happen because the geothermal resources are actually not based in the main city of Port Vila. They're based on the same island, the ones we're looking at in Efate. And you would need to connect up from that source to the grid connection already in place so it means you've got to bring about 25-30 kilometres of power cables back into the existing grid and along that region you would then have the capability of connecting in people that haven't otherwise had access to power in that time.
KATE McPHERSON: The Director General of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Russell Nari, says geothermal energy is a key factor in improving the lives of rural households.
RUSSELL NARI: One of the major ingredients of expanding or decentralising rural development, there are certain infrastructures that need to be in place and one of them is energy. If we have this initiative with geothermal being realised then it provides the opportunity to people around the island and creates economic, social opportunity for them to (inaudible) to different areas of development that would also in return improve their living standards.
KATE McPHERSON: If indeed geothermal energy can be harnessed, KUTh Energy's David McDonald says Vanuatu will rely less on imported diesel, which currently drives the country's generators.
DAVID McDONALD: Port Vila consumes all its power from diesel. That in itself is not particularly carbon friendly these days. It's also a situation of a very noisy operation operating in the centre of Port Vila. It's an imported fuel. So you're in a situation where Vanuatu is dependent on imported oil prices, the reliability and pricing of which has been fairly volatile. They're in a situation where I think greater than 50 million litres of oil is being imported now.
KATE McPHERSON: Geothermal energy is also considered clean energy production which reduces the country's carbon footprint.
DAVID McDONALD: Like all renewable energies we're looking for a generation of power that's going to be emissions free. Anything that restricts the carbon released into the atmosphere is going to be beneficial not just for Vanuatu but for the whole region in general.
KATE McPHERSON: David McDonald says considering the long-term projections of the cost of oil and environmental costs, geothermal energy could realistically compete with oil in Vanuatu.
DAVID McDONALD: Realistically it can. The real issue in geothermal is the initial development of the well structures and to be able to get your reticulation in place. The cost of the fuel itself and the cost of operating the plant is not a significant issue. You're effectively, your fuel is coming free.
