Legislation and Regulation

Five states (South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria) have legislation in place to regulate geothermal exploration and development. Western Australia is in the process of including regulation of geothermal energy exploration and development into existing legislation. The Northern Territory is in the process of developoing a Geothermal Energy Bill. 

South Australia
Geothermal energy exploration in South Australia falls under the Petroleum Act, 2000.

A Green Paper on Proposed Amendments to the Petroleum Act, 2000 outlining proposed amendments to the Act is now open for public scrutiny and comments on a number of issues.It is proposed that the size of a geothermal licence granted is at the Minister’s discretion, based on the proponent’s demonstrated project plan. This proposal will include maximum licence areas of 10 000 km2 for a GEL and 1000 km2 for a Geothermal Retention Licence (GRL) or a Geothermal Production Licence (GPL).

The closing date for comments is 29 June 2007.

New South Wales
In New South Wales geothermal exploration and development is governed by the Mining Act, 1992.

Tasmania
The Mineral Resources Development Act, 1995  governs geothermal energy exploration in Tasmania.

Victoria
Building on the Energy Resources Act, 2005 which was passed in Victoria in April 2005, the Regulatory Impact Statement and Geothermal Energy Resources Regulations 2006 (GE Regulations) came into effect during 2006. 

The geothermal legislation and regulations are intended to apply to high-end (scale) geothermal operations. Under the new GE Regulations, exploration permits are not required where the geothermal resource is less than 70º C or less than 1000 metres depth. Low-end operations operate under existing environmental, water and planning laws.

The primary objectives of the GE Regulations are to provide commercial certainty and a workable framework to facilitate large-scale, commercial exploration and development of Victoria’s geothermal resources. The GE Regulations also seek to ensure that risks to health and safety and the environment are eliminated or minimised so far as practicable. Secondary objectives of the GE Regulations are to support the Government’s aim of expanding the State’s renewable energy sector and to support alternative power generation sources, thereby reducing Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The entire State of Victoria was gazetted on April 11th 2006, totalling some 31 geothermal exploration areas. The bidding process was open for six months, with the closing date being 11th October 2006. The 20 received bids were assessed against several criteria, including the proposed work program and associated expenditure. Successful applicants are expected to be announced in April 2007. If no bids are successful for a given area, then this acreage will be able to be applied for on a ‘first-come, first-served’ basis.

Queensland
Legislation for the production of geothermal energy in Queensland was progressed in 2006 but has yet to be finalised. Ten areas were gazetted for geothermal exploration in December 2006 with a closing date in April 2007.

Western Australia
The Western Australian Government has recently approved the drafting of a Bill to amend the Petroleum Act, 1967 (WA) to accommodate the exploration and production of geothermal energy so that the Act would become the Western Australian Petroleum and Geothermal Resources Act. The Cabinet decision followed from an earlier announcement by Premier Alan Carpenter that the State Government would legislate in 2007 to provide a clear legal framework for companies to pursue large-scale geothermal energy projects in Western Australia.

Studies to pinpoint high potential HDR resources are underway and these areas will be released for competitive bid as soon as the amended legislation and regulations are in place.

Northern Territory (NT)
The NT Government is in process of developing a Geothermal Energy Bill which will provide secure tenure for the controlled exploration and development of geothermal energy resources in the Northern Territory. The proposal is to develop stand alone legislation that will provide exploration tenure in a similar form to mineral exploration tenure but with the development securities more akin to the NT Petroleum Act.  That is, the company that discovers and assesses the heat resource will have the right to develop the field.

A public discussion paper was released late in 2006 seeking comments on the proposal. A number of submissions were received which were all positive towards Geothermal exploration and development. Some legal issues dealing with Native Title were raised. The Northern Territory is currently obtaining legal opinion on these.

The draft legislation is based on other State legislation and the Northern Territory’s mining and petroleum legislation to ensure conformity and consistency for explorers and developers within the Territory. Details of the legislation have yet to be finalised but will draw strongly on existing State geothermal laws while attempting to keep the process as simple as possible.

The legislation will be developed and administered by the Titles Division of the Minerals & Energy Group of the Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines. It is hoped that the legislation will be passed this year and operative late in 2007.