Specialists in geothermal energy—the power of future generations
What is Geothermal Energy?
Geothermal energy is the heat contained in rock and fluid under the earth’s surface. Wells drilled into the subsurface can access this heat resource to provide heat for a wide variety of uses (e.g. industrial processes) or for the production of electricity. Unlike other renewable energy resources, geothermal energy provides a constant, 24/7 source of low carbon, energy.
We provide services that cover the full life cycle of geothermal projects from early stage exploration, through resource development to resource management.
Exploration
We identify and characterize geothermal resources for entities around the globe and assess their commercial value.
Development
We create development programmes so your energy source can be progressed sustainably and economically.
Management
We create custom management plans to help you adapt to the changes that occur within geothermal resources.
Geothermal Geophysics Expertise
To fully understand your energy resource’s potential, you need innovative tools and modern expertise.
Australis is one of the few geothermal geophysicists with wide-ranging industry experience in the use of magnetotelluric surveys and microseismic monitoring in New Zealand.
Magnetotelluric Surveying
Magnetotelluric (MT) surveys have been the main geophysical method used in geothermal exploration, development and operations for the last 40-50 years.
MT surveying measures the earth’s naturally occurring electrical and magnetic fields and translates them into images which provide a basis for estimating the potential size of a geothermal resource.
MT data is key to developing robust conceptual models of the resource and for targeting wells, so resources can be tapped into in the most sustainable way.
Microseismic
Monitoring
Microseismic events are small earth tremors caused by the injection of fluid back into the reservoir or by natural processes. The monitoring of this activity is critical to understanding the way fluid flows through a reservoir and therefore is valuable for optimizing resource management.
Microseismic monitoring is typically done during the operational stage. It is used to infer the flow of injection fluids in the reservoir, identify geologic structures that may control fluid flow in the reservoir and to identify where shallow cooler fluids may be entering the reservoir.
We ensure accurate seismic event locations and a well-designed seismometer network so we can gain the most value out of microseismic monitoring. We can provide a complete, customized microseismic monitoring program covering network design, equipment purchase and installation, data processing and interpretation. We also offer tomographic inversion for seismic velocity and attenuation, probabilistic focal mechanisms and stress inversions to maximise the information that is extracted from microseismic monitoring.
Working Locally & Internationally
We have worked on geothermal projects around the world in over 14 countries including;
Australia
Kyrgyzstan
India
New Zealand
Chile
United States
Indonesia
Ethiopia
Kenya
Uganda
Taiwan
Colombia.
