Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore has today officially opened the Geothermal Cetnre for Excellence, which takes the state a step closer to an energy-secure future.
The centre, based at the University of Western Australia, aimed to improve geological understanding of, and the ability to harness, WA's geothermal fields.
It would also provide world-class geothermal training for students and develop local solutions for WA's energy sector.
Mr Moore said the state government had contributed $2.3million to establish the centre which was already researching exciting geothermal applications.
"Geothermal energy can be used for power generation, but at lower temperatures it can be used directly for cooling or heating," he said.
"The Geothermal Centre of Excellence is developing Australia's first commercial geothermal-powered heating and air-conditioning units.
"It is also looking at applications for existing desalination technologies to provide clean drinking water produced with little or no carbon emissions."
The WA Geothermal Centre of Excellence is a scientific collaboration of CSIRO, Curtin University of Technology and UWA.
