Leh: Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena on Friday commissioned India’s first two geothermal wells at Puga Valley in Ladakh, marking a significant step towards the country’s first geothermal power project and the Union Territory’s transition to clean energy.
The two wells, each drilled to a depth of 1,000 metres at an altitude of over 14,000 feet by the ONGC Energy Centre, are expected to support the proposed 1 MW pilot geothermal power project at Puga, which will be India’s first demonstration-scale geothermal power plant.
Officials said the project is aimed at advancing Ladakh’s renewable energy capacity and aligns with the Centre’s vision of promoting carbon-neutral development in the region.
According to the administration, the project had faced delays after the expiry of a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) involving the Ladakh Administration, the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (Leh) and the ONGC Energy Centre. The MoU was renewed for another five years in June, allowing work on the geothermal wells to resume.
Officials said the completion of the wells would facilitate reservoir evaluation, planning of the pilot power plant and future commercial development of geothermal resources in the region.
Project engineers informed that temperatures of up to 135 degrees Celsius had been recorded at a depth of around 400 metres during drilling. Further testing is underway to assess the resource’s suitability for power generation.
The project was executed under challenging conditions, including extreme weather, rugged terrain and a short working season. The first well reached its target depth on May 22, while the second was completed on July 8, just over a month after drilling commenced.
Addressing the gathering, Saxena described the commissioning of the wells as a milestone in India’s clean energy journey and said the project would strengthen Ladakh’s energy security, promote environmental sustainability and contribute to the region’s socio-economic development.
He also commended the engineers, technicians and workers associated with the project for completing the work under difficult high-altitude conditions.
