puga

Ladakh gets IIT experts to tap geo-thermal potential
Aditi tandon
Tribune News Service

PUGAS VALLEY: The Pugas valley in the Changthang area of Leh may soon offer the best solution to the ever-looming power crisis in Ladakh. A bed of innumerable hot springs, this area has been identified as a belt with a very high potential for generation of geo-thermal energy.

Panamik in Nubra valley and Demchok in Changthang are other geothermal belts in Ladakh, which lies on the zone of collision between the Indian and the Eurasian plate. Ladakh is so rich in renewable energy sources that it has the potential to become the laboratory and demonstration site for non- conventional energy projects in entire India.

Rated at the top among the other highly probable geothermal energy sources in the region, Pugas has invited the attention of reputed energy technology consultants from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai, which has taken up this first project of geothermal electricity generation in Leh.

With the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) recently clubbing Ladakh with the North East as a high focus area for the development of non- conventional projects, the flow of funds for the project will also be ensured. Any high focus area is entitled to a grant of 90 per cent for all renewable energy initiatives.

Pugas, which has a capacity to generate 30 to 40 MW of electricity, was earlier tested for its potential by the Geological Survey of India. In fact, it was when the Ladakh Renewable Energy Development Agency (LREDA) and the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council forwarded the case of geo thermal power generation in Ladakh to the Ministry of Non-Conventional Sources (MNES) that MNES asked the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, to survey Pugas valley and prepare a pre-feasibility report. For some reason the project was not taken up then.

It has now been revived with LREDA approaching the IIT, Mumbai, which sent two experts to conduct preliminary surveys on the geo-thermal energy potential of Pugas. The two experts, Dr Milind V. Rane, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT, and Dr Chandrasekharam, Professor and Head, Department of Earth Sciences, IIT, Mumbai, have already completed the first field. In the second round which will begin anytime now, LREDA will start generation of electricity from geo-thermal energy source in Pugas.

Significantly, Ladakh despite being remote and inaccessible, is lucky to have abundant renewable energy sources. After maximizing solar energy for power generation in villages, the region is now focusing on the untapped area of geo-thermal energy.

Mr Jigmet Takpa, Project Director, LREDA, informed The Tribune that geo-thermal energy generation was a significant means to end the power crisis in Ladakh, where per capita energy consumption is 9800 Kcal per day. This is double of that in the plains. “Such amount of energy is required just for sustenance and the cost incurred on generating it is exorbitant. In that sense, geo-thermal energy will go a long way in helping Ladakhis, because this source of energy is inexhaustible.”

At present, Ladakh requires 7000 litres of diesel daily to meet its electricity requirements that include space heating and energy use for lighting. The annual electricity consumption is 175 kwh. In remote villages people still use kerosene-based lighting sources among which wick lamp and petromax are the most common. Electricity generation in the region is either diesel-based or hydro-based. But both forms of energy generation have their limitations. While the hydel power plant is closed down for five months during winter due to freezing of canals, diesel transportation is very costly.

This makes a solid case for tapping geo-thermal energy belts in Ladakh.