India is planning to repurpose abandoned oil wells to harness geothermal energy and diversify its mix of clean energy sources, Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), said speaking exclusively to Moneycontrol.
“We are trying to harness geothermal energy by using closed oil wells. To explore its commercial feasibility, we have commissioned IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Madras to run a pilot in three abandoned oil wells in Bikaner in Rajasthan,” he said.
IIT Madras has been entrusted with the pilot project under the government’s Renewable Energy Research and Technology Development Programme (RE-RTD). This involves setting up a total geothermal power capacity of 450 kilowatt (KW) in the three closed oil wells. “If the pilot is a success, then we will take up geothermal energy on a commercial scale,” Sarangi said.
India has at least 13,348 abandoned oil wells, according to a report by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Based on a 2022 report by the Geological Survey of India (GSI), there is a potential of about 10,600 MW of geothermal power in the country. But India has not exploited even 1 MW so far.
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Geothermal energy is heat derived from the earth's interior. This heat is a renewable resource, continuously produced by the earth's core, and can be harnessed for various purposes, including electricity generation and heating.
However, geothermal plants are expensive to construct due to high drilling costs. Hence, the Indian government’s latest model of harnessing geothermal energy could be relatively economical as closed or idle oil wells already have the required infrastructure.
Abandoned oil wells can be repurposed for geothermal energy production by using them as conduits for heat exchange. Water or other fluids are pumped into the well, which is heated by the earth's geothermal energy, and then brought back to the surface to generate electricity or for other uses. “Basically, some retrofitting is needed in such wells and the production of clean energy can begin,” said a senior MNRE official who is not authorised to speak to the media.
Geothermal energy is part of India’s long-term target of being a developed nation (Viksit Bharat) by 2047, and it is aiming for 18,00,000 MW (1,800 GW) of non-fossil-based power generation capacity by then.
In the short-term, the country has set a target of having 5,00,000 MW (500 GW) of non-fossil fuel-based power generation capacity by 2030. This includes energy from solar, wind, hydropower, bioenergy, and nuclear power sources, and not geothermal energy.
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