INTERNATIONAL GEOTHERMAL ASSOCIATION

NGO in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations andPartner of the European Union for the Renewable Energies

IGA home page: www.geothermal-energy.org

Western Pacific Regional Branch
BackgroundTo date there has been only one Regional Branch of the IGA operative, in Europe It has provided aclose regional focus for members with common interests not only geographically but also in terms ofsimilar types of geothermal resources and technical applications, with a strong focus on direct use andlower enthalpy resources.
The IGA Bylaws allow for the formation of other Regional Branches where there is sufficient interest
and a minimum of 50 members or two affiliated organisations willing to apply.
Discussions have been going on for several years on the formation of a Western Pacific Regional
Branch. The individual affiliated country Associations of New Zealand, Indonesia, the Philippines,
Japan and China have agreed that a Regional Branch should be formed. Those countries in total
comprise about 530 members of IGA, greatly exceeding the 50 member threshold (though not all ofthem would necessarily want to join the Regional Branch, see below).
The Board of the IGA at its last meeting in Brussels in April agreed to the formation of the Western
Pacific Regional Branch and I have been appointed as the first Chairman and have been tasked by theBoard to set up the Branch.

Reasons for a Western Pacific Regional Branch
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There are common interests in the region in the use of high enthalpy resources for power
generation, (although in China that applies to only certain parts of the country and there isalso a strong interest there in lower enthalpy resources and direct use).
There is tradition of co-operation between several of the countries in the region forgeothermal development.
For example during the period of rapid geothermal
development in the 1980’s and 1990’s, there was a high degree of participation by New
Zealand and Japan in geothermal research and development in Indonesia and thePhilippines. With the maturing of the geothermal industries in those countries it is now
much more of a partnership role, but strong linkages remain.
As well as the five core countries named, formation of a Regional Branch would also
permit individual members of IGA in countries where there is an interest in geothermal
but which do yet have a geothermal association to join. Countries in that category include
Papua New Guinea, Fiji, the Solomons, Vanuatu, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam andAustralia. I understand that Korea and Malaysia do have geothermal associations, butthey are not yet affiliated to IGA. IGA Bylaws require definition of a specificgeographical area for the Regional Branch to cover, as is set out under “Practicalities”

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4.

5.

below. People from other countries within the proposed region, such as Cambodia orSamoa are also welcome to join if they have an interest in geothermal. .
All of the five core countries concerned currently individually hold at least annual
geothermal conferences or seminars. It is proposed that under the aegis of the Regional
Branch, one of those conference be named as the Regional Branch Conference for thatyear, on a rotating basis. That will foster closer relationships and give a boost tointernational participation in the conferences. However each conference will remain selffunding, as it is at present. The NZGA and Auckland University will be holding the NZ
Geothermal Workshop in November 2006 ,with the theme of “The Pacific Rim”, and withthe agreement of the organisers it can serve as the first of the Regional Conferences.
As a group with over 500 members the Regional Branch will be in a better position to
attract funding from regional and international agencies than can the individual memberassociations.

Current Status and Issues
The Western Pacific Regional Branch has been established by IGA, but does not yet have a defined
membership, a governing Forum, or any By-Laws. I will organise those over the coming months, withthe intention of holding an Annual General Meeting in Auckland in association with the Geothermal
Workshop in November 2006. The initial governing Forum appointed at that time will serve until thenext IGA election are held in 2007.
The Regional Branch needs to be a legal entity and have its own finances. Because the Regional
Branch needs to be a legal entity, it must be registered in at least one country in the Region (but it canbe registered in more than one). For consistency with IGA it will initially be registered as aincorporated society in New Zealand which is a comparatively simple process and will not attract tax.
For convenience therefore the registered office of the Regional Branch should initially be located in
New Zealand.
Because the Regional Branch will levy a fee, and more generally because some members of IGA in theregion may not wish to participate in the Regional Branch, membership of the Regional Branch will bevoluntary rather than automatically including all members of the IGA in the geographical area
concerned. An important task for the affiliated organisations will be to identify which members in theirorganisation wish to join the Regional Branch.
The founding members of the Western Pacific Regional Branch for IGA will be those members of theaffiliated national Geothermal Associations of Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, China and NewZealand who opt to join the Regional Branch, plus other member of IGA living working within thegeographical area defined who wish to join.
The geographical coverage of the Western Pacific Regional Branch is the area outlined by joining thenational boundaries of: Thailand, China, Japan, Samoa, New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia, and allother countries within that area.
Initially at least I do not foresee any need for a large amount of finance, and propose that themembership fee for the first year be set at US $5 per individual, or tens times that in the case ofcorporate membership (if any).
Some of the five core founding countries has appointed representatives for the purpose of forming theRegional Branch, as follows:
China: Dr. Tingshan Tian: taints@mail.cigem.gov.cn
New Zealand: Jim Lawless: Jlawless@skm.co.nz
Japan: Toshihiro Uchida : uchida-toshihiro@aist.go.jp
Indonesia: Alimin Ginting: aliming@unocal.com
I assume, but do not have formal confirmation of the fact, that the Philippines will berepresented by Tony Yee.

2The IGA By Laws require that the Chairman of the Regional Branch Forum, which is the 5 to 7 person
governing body of the Regional Branch, be elected by the IGA Board immediately upon formation ofthe Branch. I have been elected as Chairman.. The Forum members are then elected by the Regional
Branch, and the Forum members internally elect Officers, which means that I will be calling fornominations from the affiliated organisations of Forum Members. Note that the Chairman of theForum does not have to be an IGA Board member, but if not he/she becomes an ex-officio IGA Board
member upon election. Similarly the Forum members do not have to be IGA Board members.
I propose that for simplicity until the By-Laws are agreed upon, membership list are complied and anelection can be held, for the first term the Forum membership should be the representatives that havebeen nominated by five founding countries. Howe, I am open to suggestions if anyone wants a
different procedure.

Chairman: Jim Lawless3