The Western Australian Geothermal Centre of Excellence (WAGCOE) today celebrated Perth becoming one of the world's top five geothermal cities.
It is just one of WAGCOE's many achievements which are supported by joint venture partners
the CSIRO, the University of Western Australia and Curtin University.
The celebrations were held at the Australian Resources Research Centre which was launched in 2009 by the WA Mines Minister Norman Moore.
Since then WAGCOE has been instrumental in securing $20 million of Australian Government funding for the CSIRO Geothermal Project, which will prove the viability of using geothermal energy on a large-scale by cooling the Pawsey Centre Supercomputer.
A geothermally-powered desalination plant is another key deliverable.
WAGCOE has brought researchers, industry, investors and government agencies together with the shared vision of creating zero-emission geothermal cities.
WAGCOE Director Professor Klaus Regenauer-Lieb said the centre had strived to underpin a new era of energy development by developing local solutions.
"When we consider the challenges of climate change and the need to develop reliable sources of renewable energy, the work of WAGCOE is less about the last four years, than the next 50 years,”Professor Regenauer-Lieb said.
"At WAGCOE we provided a world-class research and training environment where scientists developed local solutions to revolutionise energy development in Western Australia and contribute to the goal of powering zero-emission geothermal cities.”
Internationally, the work of WAGCOE led to the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) identifying Perth as one of the top ten (number five) Geothermal Cities of the world. But unlike other entries to the list, Perths inclusion is unique as it plans to become the world's first geothermally cooled city.
