Recently a tripartite agreement for establishing India’s first-ever geothermal field development project has been signed, with the Ladakh Lieutenant Governor R K Mathur terming it a step towards achieving the goal of carbon-neutral Ladakh. The pact was signed between Union Territory Administration Ladakh, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC)-Leh and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Energy Centre in presence of Mathur and MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal on the sidelines of the first developmental conclave.
In Phase-1 of this pilot project, 1 megawatt (MW) power generation capacity shall be generated and 100 per cent free power shall be supplied to the general public, ONGC Energy Centre is the implementing agency for this pilot project. The Phase-2 shall involve deeper and lateral exploration of geothermal reservoir by drilling optimal number of wells and setting up of a higher capacity demo plant in Ladakh, while Phase-3 shall be a commercial project as per discovered capacity.