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TO reach it you walk behind the depot for Portland's cable tram, crossing the lush Henty Park lawn to a chain link fence. There, disused and left to an unknown fate, lies a geothermal bore. Unfamiliar eyes may not recognise the facility simply by glancing at its cooling towers and piping, but locals remember a heating system that made the city unique and saved millions of dollars in the process. The bore - commissioned in 1983 and closed in 2006 - accessed the Dilwyn Aquifer, about 1400 metres below the surface. It used an electric pump to circulate water of approximately 60 degrees in a loop that went past a series of buildings, with heat exchangers extracting energy for space and water heating. Portland's police station, hospital, library, arts centre, municipal offices, civic hall, public swimming pool, Maritime Discovery Centre and History House were among premises to benefit, as was the Richmond Henty Hotel. For about 14 years water drawn from Henty Park was also cooled and used in the local supply. Yearly energy savings due to the bore have been estimated at $300,000, raising the question of why it was ever shut down. The official explanation was that the facility had reached the end of its useful life and was at risk of collapse. Announcing its decommissioning in January 2006, Wannon Water said the decision would deliver major long-term environmental and social benefits by preventing more than 2400 megalitres of groundwater being discharged annually into the Portland Canal. "This will provide greater security for the supply of water to the towns reliant on the Dilwyn Aquifer, and more water will be available for alternative beneficial uses in the future including access to groundwater for major new projects in the region," chairman Harry Peeters said at the time. "Wannon Water's greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by around 1200 tonnes per year as the authority will no longer have to cool the hot water from the Henty Park bore." South West Coast MP Denis Napthine sees things differently. He was a vocal critic of the bore's closure and has repeatedly raised the matter in Parliament, arguing that Portland lost an innovative source of energy only to return to its former reliance on gas. "The state government at the time, which was the Bracks government, were championing alternate energy opportunities around Victoria, including geothermal," he said. "(It) allowed the only working geothermal operation in the state to shut down - it was absolutely disgraceful." In 1992 the City of Portland, now Glenelg Shire, entered into a contract with the Portland Water Board (now Wannon Water) to give the council exclusive access to geothermal heat from bores operated by the water board. Wannon Water's website states that it disconnected the bore from the water supply system in the 1996-97 financial year due to ongoing water quality concerns, with heating becoming its only use. It was a move that disappointed Neil Buckingham, a former municipal engineer who played a crucial role in the bore's launch. "Initially the geothermal heating was put in under council's control, because there was nothing under the Water Act that allowed the selling of energy," he said. "When the water board got separated (from the council) they decided they really didn't want to have the (geothermal) water; they said that they were worried about the security of the system, that it could get impurities on it from the geothermal system. "We used to test regularly on a three-month basis (through) the Warrnambool Institute, and on all occasions there was never any impurities recognised, so it met World Health Organisation standards." Portland's water is today sourced from two bores at Bald Hill, near Alcoa's Portland Aluminium smelter. "The geothermal system used to run 24 hours a day, and any excess water that didn't go into the water supply was pumped up to Bald Hill," Mr Buckingham said. "Strangely enough, it could put water into the Bald Hill basin cheaper than what the bores at Bald Hill could, even though it's about five kilometres away, because they were different types of pump." Glenelg Shire's draft budget meeting this month will be remembered for clashes between councillors, though amid the passionate debate there was support for a new initiative. The council is proposing to spend $50,000 on a detailed business case and technical assessment to determine the viability of the Portland geothermal energy project. In November 2005 consultants Sinclair Knight Merz estimated a new bore with a 50-year lifespan would cost $1.4 million to build, with its cost to be repaid within five years due to savings on heating bills. Shire assets and infrastructure group manager Lindsay Merritt said Henty Park was among several sites likely to be considered for a facility. Providing the draft budget is passed, consultants will be appointed to consider the best place for a new bore and how it should be used. "The $50,000 is to do all the studies and possibly preliminary design work so that council is very confident of both the technical and financial feasibility in order to then seriously entertain funding the proposal itself," Mr Merritt said. "It's also to have authoritative data in order to potentially seek external funding assistance as well. "If the capital costs could be recovered in, say, five to seven years, with lower costs (than) annual energy costs, then that becomes obviously an attractive financial proposition." The proposed studies should be finished by March, enabling the council to pursue funding for a project in 2013 or 2014. "I welcome any efforts to revitalise the geothermal opportunities for Portland. I think that they are significant opportunities, and I believe it is a great potential renewable energy source to be used locally and potentially have wider opportunities," Dr Napthine said. "I think it's great that the council's having another look at it, but it just highlights what an absolute tragedy it was (that) it was closed down in the first place." The Regional Cities Minister was confident the state government would back a new geothermal bore in Portland if its viability was proven. "Where there's potential energy savings, alternative energy development and an economic case for jobs and opportunities using geothermal, it would be very, very much the sort of project that the Baillieu government would be looking to support and encourage in regional Victoria," he said. "I'm very aware of not only how beneficial it can be, but I think that was the tip of the iceberg in terms of potential for geothermal usage in the Portland region, and I'd love to be involved with the council and the community through the state government to realise that potential." For Mr Buckingham, an expert in geothermal technology who has spent time in the United States investigating its uses, loss of the Henty Park bore was devastating. "We had something unique in the world: we were saving energy and I was extremely disappointed," he said. "The council could have put a new bore down and used the system there. Another bore could have been put about 100 metres away from the existing bore and all the infrastructure (would have) been used. "There's always a solution. You can get over it one way or other."

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