A number of basins across the Territory are prospective for geothermal systems and remain underexplored.
Process
Geothermal energy is the process of extracting and utilising a natural source of heat contained within the Earth. The heat can be extracted and used either indirectly to generate electricity, or directly for heating applications.
Geothermal targets are regions of high heat flow coupled to insulating sedimentary layers with low thermal conductivity such as thick intervals of shale- or mudstone- rich sedimentary rocks. The Northern Territory (NT) has a high heat flow largely due to the radiogenic decay of uranium, thorium and potassium in crystalline basement rocks. Several basins in the NT contain thick shale rich sedimentary basins overlying these high heat generating crystalline basement rocks and are good geothermal exploration targets.
Prospectivity
A 2007 study on the Geothermal energy potential of the Northern Territory found that the Amadeus, onshore Bonaparte, Money Shoal and Arafura basins are prospective for geothermal systems and are in close proximity to infrastructure and market.
The study also found that the McArthur Basin, Beetaloo Sub-basin, onshore Carpentaria and Ngalia basins are prospective for geothermal systems. These basins are all frontier and remain largely underexplored by world standards.
Links to more information
Geothermal regulation is administered by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade. All tenure information and regulatory requirements can be found on the NT Government website.
View the distribution of petroleum wells and seismic lines and download attributed spatial data across the Territory’s onshore basins through the Northern Territory Geological Survey's (NTGS) online web mapping system STRIKE.
