Ladakh is all set to get India’s first geothermal power project soon to tap the potential of natural geysers dotting the Puga area, 170 km east of Leh and in Changthang plains.
State-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has embarked upon a journey to generate electricity on a utility scale by tapping steam gushing from the earth’s bowels at Puga, a remote valley located at an altitude of over 14,000 feet, off the road to Chumar on the de-facto border with China.
ONGC begins work
ONGC has started drilling its first well for the project last month and encountered high-pressure steam at 100 degrees Celsius with a discharge rate of 100 tonne geothermal energy per hour. This has made the crew confident about the project’s viability.
The geothermal foray is part of a strategy adopted by India’s largest oil and gas producer to offset its carbon footprint, Times of India reported. In the first phase, the company will drill 1,000-metre-deep wells to run a one-megawatt power plant as a pilot.
The second phase envisages a deeper exploration of the geothermal reservoir and a higher capacity demonstration plant. A commercial size plant will be set up in the third phase.
Provides power to Tibetan refugees
The pilot plant provides power and heating needs of the nearby settlements of Tibetan pastoralist refugee settlements at Sumdo and nearby areas. A bigger plant will provide 24X7 supply for the far-flung settlements and the large defence establishment in the eastern sector, reducing their dependence on diesel for running generators.
The plant can also play a vital role as a stabiliser for the 15-gigawatt solar, wind project being planned in the nearby Morey plains in the southwest, TOI reported.
Puga, and Chumathang area in general, are deemed as the most promising geothermal prospects. These areas were discovered in the 1970s and initial exploratory efforts were made in the 1980s by the Geological Survey of India. But nothing much happened till prime minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2020 outlined a carbon-neutral vision for Ladakh.
World’s highest geothermal power project
The US, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey and New Zealand have gigawatt-size geothermal capacities. Mexico and Italy have 900 megawatt-plus capacity, while Kenya has over 800 MW, followed by Iceland, Japan and others.
