ONGC plans to establish India’s first geothermal energy project in Ladakh

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation on February 8, 2021, announced that it will establish India’s first geothermal field development project in Ladakh. It will use the heat generated by the Earth’s core to generate clean energy.

In an official statement, the company informed that a Memorandum of Understanding was inked between ONGC Energy Centre and the Union Territory of Ladakh and Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh on February 6. The project by ONGC will also put India on a geothermal power map of the world.

Geothermal energy is clean energy which is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Geothermal power plants have average availabilities of 90% or higher, compared with about 75% of the coal plants.

Alongside the Developmental Conclave, a tripartite agreement was signed b/w the Administration of Union Territory Ladakh, #LAHDCLeh & @ONGC_ EnergyCentre, for establishing the 1st #Geothermal field development project of India at #Puga in Ladakh@mnreindia @ANI @ravinder_dangi1 pic.twitter.com/DChDiFDD5A

— Office of the Lt. Governor, Ladakh (@lg_ladakh) February 6, 2021

Significance of geothermal energy project in Ladakh:

The Geothermal resource development in Ladakh can revolutionise farming in the Union Territory, which is completely dependent for the supply of fresh fruits, vegetables from outside the Union Territory round the year. Moreover, the direct heat energy applications make it most relevant to Ladakh.

Development of geothermal energy project in three phases:

Phase 1- It will involve exploratory-cum-production drilling of wells of up to 500 meters depth as well as setting up of a pilot plant of up to 1-megawatt power capacity.

Phase 2- It will involve a lateral and deeper exploration of the geothermal reservoir by drilling an optimal number of wells. Under this phase, there will also be setting up of a higher capacity demo plant and preparing a detailed project report.

Phase 3- This will involve the commercial development of the geothermal energy power plant in Ladakh.

Geothermal fields in Ladakh:

As per the official statement, Chumathang and Puga in Eastern Ladakh are the most promising geothermal energy fields in India. These areas were first discovered in the 1970s and the initial exploratory efforts were made by the Geological Survey of India in the 1980s.

However, the development efforts for exploiting geothermal energy by the government as well as the private agencies did not materialize for some reason. After the Union Territory of Ladakh was created, efforts were taken up by ONGC Energy Centre which led to the signing of MoU with the Ladakh administration.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy also provided a letter of support to the ONGC Energy Sector via a letter for the Ladakh Geothermal Project.

Geothermal resources in India:

India has a total of 7 geothermal provinces and a number of geothermal springs. GSI has mapped the geothermal resources in India and a broad estimate has suggested that there could be 10-gigawatt geothermal power potential.

Geothermal is an energy source that is stored in the form of heat beneath the surface of the Earth. This energy is clean, sustainable, renewable, uninterrupted, carbon-free, continuous, and environment-friendly.

This energy is the only renewable energy that is available 24x7. It also doesn’t require any form of storage and is not affected by seasonality variance or day-night.