Early drilling results promising for geothermal project in Gujarat, India
Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gujarat, India
Alexander Richter
2 Nov 2015
The early drilling results at shallow depth are promising for geothermal power project in Gujarat, India.
As reported locally, Centre of Excellence in Geothermal Energy (CEGE) at the Gujarat-based Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) has reported results from the first geothermal well drilled at a project in Ahmedabad.
The PDPU, an industry-government initiative to create talent pool for the energy field, completed pre-feasibility studies in the geo-thermal energy sector, and now reports early results from the well drilled to a depth of 1,000 feet. The well produces around 5 litres per second of 50 degrees Celsius to 55 degrees Celsius water with continues flow.
Anirbid Sircar, the university’s director, told local news, that these are just very early results and “not much work has been undertaken in Gujarat on geothermal energy and exploitation of hot water. We are the first to initiate an attempt to generate electricity with the help of geothermal energy.”
The project is expected to be developing a binary geothermal power plant utilising Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), that would allow electricity generation from low-heat geothermal resources.
With the success of its first well, the CEGE now plans to drill another well at Utthan, about three km from Dholera village. The other sites identified for the purpose are in Gandhar and Unai.
B.K. Behera, a professor at the Geo-thermal Energy unit of the university: “We have so far conducted pre-feasibility studies for the entire state of Gujarat with the help of geological, geochemical and remote sensing studies and identified five geo-thermal provinces.”
“Various geothermal prospects have been identified in Himalayan belt, Cambay basin and Central India,” Behera added.
The geo-thermal initiative of the PDPU, which started off in 2007 near state capital Gandhinagar, is the only one in the country to have received government funding for its activities, says Behera.
Research findings of T. Hari Narayana, Director of Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI), suggest that going by geo-scientific studies Puga area in eastern Ladakh is the most promising geothermal field. But lack of deep sub-surface information hampers the evaluation of the resource here.
Source: The Peninsula
