MB Century is a geothermal pioneer and has been a cornerstone for the geothermal industry of New Zealand. Through the decades, the company has provided technical services and expertise that have also been crucial for the growth of geothermal in the Philippines and Indonesia.
Their work on three of the leading countries in terms of installed geothermal power capacity is a testament to the time-tested excellence of MB Century. To learn about what is next for MB Century and how values shape the way they do business, we sat down for a conversation with CEO Greg Thompson.
Can you tell us briefly about the range of geothermal services that MB Century has been offering the geothermal industry?
MB Century is a 70+-year-old company that was set up back in 1950 to start construction on the second geothermal power station in the world here in Wairakei in New Zealand. As such, geothermal drilling has always been at the heart of our business. We have since branched out to engineering design, wireline services, manufacturing of downhole tools, and maintenance of geothermal power station.
While geothermal has been at the core and DNA of MB Century, we have diversified into hydropower in recent years. I would say we are now in the business of enabling the renewable energy sector.
Which regions or markets are MB Century currently focusing on? Are there plans for further expansion?
Our home country, New Zealand, is where we have the biggest reach. We also have an entity in the Philippines where we provide wireline and downhole services.
In the upcoming months, we will be opening a branch in Indonesia and also a permanent branch in Taiwan.
Can you tell us about any interesting projects that you are currently working on?
One of the most recent projects that we have been working in the geothermal space is the expansion of the geothermal fleet of Contact Energy. We just completed the Tauhara project and we have done some of the pre-FID drilling on the GeoFuture project in Wairakei. We have been working quite closely with them on the drilling side of our business.
In terms of design support, we have been helping with projects in Tuchung, Taiwan. CPC/AUO has a project to build a 7-MW geothermal power plant which is a really interesting project with in Taiwan, as they are one the emerging markets in the geothermal space.
What is the goal of the recently announced partnership between GNS Science and MB Century?
Although MB Century does everything from drilling to designing power plants, we do not actually get involved in the subsurface geology. For us to bring that holistic understanding of geothermal projects to clients, we have joined up with GNS Science. The aim of the partnership is to provide a holistic approach – from subsurface to surface assets – and provide our clients in the international geothermal markets with solutions to all types of challenges they could be facing.
Are there plans for MB Century to also serve other geothermal markets outside of power production? How is MB Century keeping up with changes in the geothermal industry?
It’s great to see the geothermal market go beyond just power generation and we have been working quite closely with some of those innovative products coming out where we can provide support on the design side. We have been staying abreast with developments on EGS and AGS, and working quite closely with involved companies. We remain interested in coming up with ways to adapt MB Century’s assets to deliver on EGS and AGS projects in the future.
What is really exciting for us at the moment is supercritical geothermal. That is going to create a lot of challenges in the drilling space, so we have been wrapping our heads around supercritical drilling and what that might mean for our operations in the subsurface space.
How would you say has the geothermal industry evolved in the last 10 years?
I have been in the geothermal sector for a long time. Historically, and particularly in New Zealand, geothermal has predominantly been used for power generation. However, we are now seeing a growing focus on direct use applications. This has become a key part of how clients can use geothermal resources to decarbonize industrial processes.
There is plenty of work being done as well for the secondary use of geothermal. These include lithium extraction, and mineral extraction as a whole. Recently, we have done some work on producing green hydrogen from geothermal power generation. That is also starting to create a hydrogen economy that is going to provide green hydrogen to the sector going forward.
What would you say is the most exciting technological trend in geothermal that has potential to be a game-changer?
I think EGS and AGS can really play a major part because that allows geothermal energy to be taken anywhere. It means that you are no longer dependent on finding a steam or water-dominated reservoir, which has been a constraint historically.
You can actually go to dry reservoirs and mine that heat, so which could potentially take geothermal anywhere. Old geothermal wells could be utilised for AGS and EGS as well. I think that is probably going to be a game-changer. Supercritical is also exciting, but I think there are still a lot of challenges that need to be addressed, and that can potentially be decades away.
In what way is the business philosophy of MB Century influenced by being Maori-owned?
Being Maori-owned for us is really about the shared values that we have taken on from our parent company Tuaropaki Trust. Those shared values include “Pono”, doing the right thing at the right time, “Aroha” treating people with respect, authenticity, and humility, and “Kaitiakitanga” looking after the environment.
We have a holistic view of the environment. There is, of course, the physical environment, but part of it is how we do business and ensure that we are looking after our partners and clients. One other way that we have changed is ensuring that what we do is inter-generational, which sits at the heart of Maori philosophy as well. What we do is not just for today, but it’s for the next generation as well. Part of that is training up the next wave of talent through training, providing graduate programs, internships, and apprenticeships. We aim to contribute by advancing technology and capabilities in the next generation and transferring knowledge to those at the beginning of their careers in the energy sector.
With ongoing plans to establish offices in other countries and regions, has it been a challenge to maintain that culture?
Those values are always at the heart of the way we do business, even when we are doing it overseas. I think what we have done really well is ensure that we have transplanted some of those core values into the way that we do business. Some of those values are not too different from the countries where we have been expanding to. We want to make sure that we are doing the right thing, that we treat people really well, and that the environment is not being harmed by our operations.
I suppose this is the nice thing about the renewable energy business – that we are dealing with people who are also in it for the greater good. That brings a lot of natural respect in terms of the way we do business and ensuring that those values are carried through into everything that we do.
What is it about geothermal that you still find exciting and what do you envision for this industry by 2030 or beyond?
In geothermal, every reservoir and development is unique in terms of its challenges and ability to harness the energy sustainably. No project is the same, which is fantastic. It’s great to be able to innovate and come up with different solutions to the challenges that our clients in generating electricity or process heat from geothermal.
What do I envision for the industry? I think geothermal is really poised at a great space at the moment. We are seeing a lot of momentum and support from the governments globally and lobbying finally coming through to create policies and fund these projects. We have also seen governments deregulating permitting processes to facilitate the development of geothermal reservoirs.
I think what we are seeing now is just at the crest of that wave and we are going to get a lot more momentum. I think, over the next 10 years, we are going to see a lot more geothermal being constructed and harnessed. I’m really excited to see that happen and be part of that action. I think we’re going to see geothermal in spaces that we’ve never seen before. The evolution of AGS and EGS technologies coming to market is going to enable that, particularly for those who have historically struggled to decarbonize their energy solutions.
MB Century delivers world-class renewable energy solutions founded on our technical knowledge and innovative thinking to create economic value for our clients. With over 70 years of experience in the Geothermal industry, MB Century offers an all-in-one suite of services that span the entire Geothermal life cycle including drilling, reservoir logging, design/engineering, construction, operation, maintenance, and plant. Simultaneously, we look to strengthen industry capability worldwide and develop strong communities while safeguarding our people and the environment.
The post Interview – How MB Century maintains Maori values in a growing geothermal business first appeared on ThinkGeoEnergy – Geothermal Energy News.