Puga Valley in the Ladakh region of Jammu & Kashmir is one of the areas showing significant potential for geothermal energy. Puga lies in the south-eastern part of Ladakh and forms a part of the Himalayan geothermal belt. This zone shows evidence of geothermal activity in the form of hot springs, mud pools, sulphur and borax deposits.
“Since Ladakh lies in the confluence of two continental plates, geothermal (energy) can be found easily here. The potential is strong as we have good source of water due to rivers and hot springs,” Jigmet Takpa, Director, Ladakh Renewable Energy Development Agency (LREDA), told indiaclimatedialogue.net. “More survey is needed to test the depth in the valley. We need to reach a minimum of 2 km depth to see how temperature changes, if it is earth’s heat or magma, or if lava is coming out.” To find the real potential in Puga Valley, there is a need for in-depth information on the reservoirs.
According to a paper titled Assessment of subsurface temperature distribution from the gauged wells of Puga Valley, Ladakh published in the Geothermal Energy journal in 2017, it is estimated that over 5,000 MWh of geothermal energy is available at Puga at current depths, which could be used for heating, greenhouse cultivation and electricity generation. Studies have indicated that there is a 90% probability that the Puga field could sustain a 20 MW power plant at the current shallow depth of drilling. A 20 MW geothermal plant at Puga could save three million litres of diesel burnt annually in the region at a cost of approximately USD 2 million.