ONGC Drills Second Geothermal Well in Ladakh's Puga Valley, Advances India's First 1 MW Pilot Geothermal Power Plant
State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has completed drilling its second geothermal well in Ladakh's Puga Valley, taking India a step closer to developing its first pilot geothermal power plant. The well was drilled by ONGC Energy Centre, the company's research and development arm, to a depth of 1,000 metres at an altitude above 14,000 feet, completed in about a month. This improved on the timeline and cost of ONGC's first geothermal drilling campaign in the area.
The new well builds on ONGC's first geothermal well in Puga, which produced steam at temperatures above the boiling point of water, confirming the site's geothermal resource potential. ONGC said the second well will support construction of India's first 1-megawatt electric (MWe) pilot geothermal power plant and could pave the way toward commercial-scale geothermal development in the country.
The project's next phase involves setting up the 1 MWe pilot plant, with longer-term plans to develop the Puga field's geothermal resources to supply reliable baseload electricity to Ladakh. The Puga geothermal field in eastern Ladakh is considered India's most promising geothermal resource, and offers round-the-clock, low-carbon power generation that is not dependent on weather conditions, unlike solar and wind.
Exploratory work at Puga has been carried out intermittently for decades, but commercial geothermal power generation in India has not yet materialised due to technical and economic challenges. The successful drilling campaigns are expected to generate data supporting future commercial-scale geothermal projects in the region.