SRINAGAR: In a major step towards India’s clean energy mission, Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh V K Saxena Friday commissioned the country’s first and the deepest geothermal wells at Puga valley. ONGC Energy Centre would execute two geothermal wells in the Union Territory.“What has been achieved in Puga valley would serve as a blueprint for India‘s net-zero journey and significantly contribute towards making Ladakh a carbon-neutral and environmentally sustainable region,” Saxena said.The commissioning of the two 1,000m-deep wells, at an altitude of over 14,000 ft, would significantly advance Ladakh’s journey towards becoming a clean energy hub, officials said. The two geothermal wells are critical for the successful implementation of the 1MW pilot geothermal power project at Puga, which will be India’s first demonstration-scale geothermal power project, the officials added.Project engineers said that successful completion of the two wells would facilitate critical reservoir evaluation, power plant planning, and the eventual commercial development of geothermal resources in Ladakh. They said that the maximum temperature of 135° celsius was recorded at the depth of 400m. Further testing is on and they are hopeful to achieve even higher temperatures for operation of the 1MW pilot geothermal power project and eventual commercial exploration of geothermal energy.The engineers said that despite encountering geothermal activities, complex subsurface conditions, and operational challenges, the first of the two wells was successfully drilled to its target depth of 1,000m on May 22, 2026. Subsequently, the other geothermal well was spudded on June 3 and in a record time of just over a month, it was successfully drilled and completed to 1,000m depth on July 8.The geothermal power project had suffered a major setback following the expiry of the earlier tripartite MoU between the Ladakh administration, the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Leh and the ONGC Energy Centre, resulting in critical delays of several months in project execution.Saxena then intervened to facilitate the renewal of the MoU for another five years, following which works resumed, officials said.
