Why is a communications strategy important for this industry?

The Australian geothermal industry is growing at a rapid pace with almost 50 companies now pegging ground and working toward creating new renewable, base load electricity.

This intense activity is occurring in an industry that is still working toward educating the public about its progress and the huge contribution it has to make to Australia’s future energy supply.

Paramount to the industry’s success is a clear and cohesive plan for informing the industry’s major stakeholders, government, investors and the public of the benefits and potential of geothermal energy. This is especially important given the complexity of the technology, and the wide range of applications of geothermal energy.

What are the common misconceptions about the industry?

As an industry we are often asked whether geothermal energy production is a proven technology.

The use of geothermal heat is not new, with two fundamental applications being:

• Direct use, which has been a common practice in suitable areas for centuries; and
• Electricity generation, which has been in use over the past 100 years.

Another frequently asked question is whether geothermal heat is renewable.

Geothermal heat is constantly being generated from within the earth. At a geothermal energy production site – where the energy is continually extracted from the hot water and is re-circulated through the geothermal reservoir to become reheated – temperatures in the reservoir tend to reduce over time. However, a project will continue to develop its resource on a rotational basis while a geothermal reservoir left fallow is naturally reheated and becomes available for use again.

Heat transfer modelling suggests that, as a rule of thumb, the rocks will take approximately 1 to 1.5 times the duration of cooling through its productive life to naturally reheat to pre-production levels.

What activities is the AGEA undertaking to a) raise the industry’s profile and b) improve the understanding of geothermal energy?

Raising the profile of the industry

Most recently, we were thrilled with the success of the Australian Geothermal Energy Conference – Australia’s annual geothermal industry event, organised by the Australian Geothermal Energy Association (AGEA) and our sister organisation, the Australian Geothermal Energy Group (AGEG) (see page 42 for a wrap of the conference).

AGEA’s CEO, Susan Jeanes, does an excellent job of making herself available to media, and we will continue to focus on providing comment where topics arise that are of relevance to the industry – such as the Renewable Energy Target and the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.

We work with specific organisations, such as the World Wide Fund for Nature, to produce papers, like Power to Change: Australia’s Geothermal Future, which act as important advisory pieces to government and media. We also provide regular briefings with all levels of government, and deliver submissions to inform government policy.

Without a doubt 2010 will be a big year. The Federal Government has recently awarded $153 million of funding under its Renewable Energy Demonstration Program (REDP) to two geothermal energy players for the development of commercial-sized demonstration plants. An announcement on the Federal Government’s round two funding totalling $36 million under the Geothermal Drilling Program is also expected soon.

On top of our efforts at home, AGEA and AGEG will travel to the World Geothermal Congress in April 2010, in Bali, as ‘Team Australia’. We are working with Austrade to facilitate introductions between member organisations and their target audiences.

Improving public understanding of geothermal energy

A vast array of resources are available on geothermal energy, but many of them are confusing and not necessarily relevant to the work going on in Australia, so we have commenced a body of work to simplify the message.

The AGEA Communications Committee is in the process of developing a range of resources that will be made available to the general public – things like easy-to-understand fact sheets, answers to FAQs and other educational tools.

How has industry developed over the past two years?

AGEA has come a long way in its two years of existence. This is quite a unique industry organisation, and it is recognised in Australia and throughout the world as providing the conduit for one of the most cohesive industries, where companies work side by side and with government departments to develop and promote the industry.

This collaborative culture, together with support via state and federal government grants, has enabled development of the industry to date.

What vision and projects does AGEA have in store for 2010 and beyond in terms of communication and profile-raising strategies?

In a fast growing industry, our immediate focus will be to support AGEA’s policy initiatives and other priorities by informing policy makers, influencers and opinion leaders about geothermal energy.

AGEA will continue to lobby government to increase capital grants and to reform market rules, which will play an important role in supporting the industry during its development phase.

The Communications Committee will focus on promoting the investment potential in the sector, developing a better understanding within the finance and broader investment community.

The whole industry eagerly anticipates the successful development of the first geothermal energy production project in Australia, with one company’s success benefiting all others.