In a further sign that investors are giving greater credence to energy alternatives, the Western Australian company opened at a 75 per cent premium to its offer price of 20 cents a share.
Torrens is looking to raise $6 million from the listing, with the capital funding drilling programs at 14 geothermal exploration licences in South Australia.
The company is hoping to discover hot fractured rock geothermal energy sources, which will produce large-scale baseload power close to established electricity markets in South Australia.
Drilling programs start in September, with the aim of finding a heat source within two years.
The company has tendered for drilling permits in Victoria.
With the world's attention focusing on climate change, geothermal energy is being looked upon as a sustainable and environmentally friendly, yet viable, source of baseload power generation.
Harnessing hot rock geothermal energy requires pumping water into a borehole and through a "heat exchanger" of hot cracked rocks several kilometres underground.
The hot water then is returned to the surface where it is used to generate electricity - a process that produces no waste and no greenhouse gas emissions.
Torrens chief executive Chris Matthews said public and political sentiment was running in his company's favour, with climate change now a heated topic in Australia and around the world.
"There has been a groundswell of public support for a sustainable energy future, and perhaps a movement away from the traditional forms of energy to something which certainly represents a sustainable future for Australians," he said.
"The federal minister (Malcolm Turnbull, Minister for Environment) a few days ago spoke of geothermal (as) having the potential to provide 10 per cent of Australia's energy resources by 2030, and we believe this is entirely possible.
"Because it's baseload power, there is a potential to have a real impact on the future energy security of Australia."
Worldwide, hot-rock geothermal projects are still in the developmental phase, with Europe, Japan and the United States leading the way.
Despite this, Matthews said a breakthrough was imminent as the path to maturation involved existing technology already proven in other sectors.
"This is the great promise for geothermal," he said.
"There is nothing about the process which is new and has to be developed.
"Yes, it hasn't been done commercially elsewhere. But the pathway to development is there in front of us."
And when up and running, geothermal electricity plants will soon rival their coal-fired cousins, Matthews said.
"At large scale, geothermal can rival the size of coal-fired power plants," he said.
"The great thing about it is that you can start with a small plant and in modular fashion, double and triple up to those sizes."
Source: AAP NewsWire
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