Tasmania's energy and resources minister Bryan Green said yesterday he intended to grant KUTh Exploration a special exploration licence as a successful outcome would add to Tasmania's renewable energy resources.
"The exploration will be directed towards finding and evaluating hot dry rocks from which energy can be extracted, ultimately as electricity," Green said.
Green said geothermal energy was ideal for baseload power generation as it can be extracted with minimal environmental impact or greenhouse emissions.
KUTh could spend about $650,000 in the first two years of the licence, exploring around 12,000 square kilometres of eastern Tasmania, according to Green.
In the first year, measurements of heat flow would be made in suitable existing drillholes, with drilling of further holes to take place in the second year.
