Pulsed power drilling company takes control of Millungera Basin geothermal site, Australia
Millungera Basin location in Queensland, Australia. Right: Millungera Basin (in brown) to the east of the Mt Isa Inlier (in red) and EPG permit areas. (source: I-Pulse)
Carlo Cariaga
25 Mar 2026
I-Pulse has taken operational control of the Millungera Basin geothermal project in Australia, seeking to deploy its pulsed power drilling technology.
Albuquerque, New Mexico-based I-Pulse will be taking operational control and funding of the Millungera Basin Geothermal Project in NW Queensland, Australia under a new joint venture structure that includes I-pulse (65%), Greenvale (20%) and Sunrise Energy Metals (15%). The geothermal project will also serve as a validation site of I-Pulse’s G-Pulse pulsed power drilling technology, aiming to address one of the most challenging and expensive stages of geothermal development.
The Millungera Basin is widely considered to be one of the most significant untapped geothermal energy resources identified in Australia recent decades. An analysis by Ascendience Geoscience, an independent geoscience consultancy engaged by Greenvale Mining, indicates that the basin has stored thermal energy of 611,000 PJ at a 90% confidence level.
Following initial applications in 2022, mineral exploration company Greenvale Mining Limited was granted a 5-year exploration permit for the Millungera Basin geothermal prospect area. In late 2025, Greenvale signed a Farm-in Agreement with SRL Hot Rocks Pty Ltd (SRL-HR), a wholly owned subsidiary of metals company Sunrise Energy Metals, for the joint development of the project.
Deploying pulsed power drilling in Millungera Basin
“Millungera is a cornerstone asset in I-Pulse’s global geothermal strategy,” said I-Pulse Co-Founder and Head of Technology Laurent Frescaline. “Through our G-Pulse technology, we are developing a fundamentally new way to drill into deep hot rock formations, dramatically lowering the cost and time required to access geothermal energy. Our vision is to unlock vast geothermal resources around the world and deliver clean, perpetual energy for the planet.”
For nearly two decades, I-Pulse has led the development of high pulsed power systems to transform how electrical energy is deployed. Its proprietary technology generates extremely short, yet extraordinarily powerful, bursts of electricity, delivering immense energy density at a very low incremental cost.
In practical terms, the technology can draw energy from something as small as a mobile phone battery and convert it into brief bursts of power that can be delivered safely and repeatedly in fractions of a second. This capability is enabling step-change innovation across multiple industries, including geothermal energy.
By dramatically reducing drilling time and cost while improving efficiency and well performance, G-Pulse aims to unlock geothermal energy resources on an unprecedented scale by dramatically reducing the cost of drilling into hard granites, accelerating the deployment of clean, reliable baseload power.
Source: I-Pulse via Business Wire
