Verkís participated in the ministry of foreign affairs’ trip to India
Verkís participated in a trip to India last 1.-5. March. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized the trip together with the Icelandic Embassy in Delhi. Haukur Þór Haraldsson, Business development manager, participated in the trip on behalf of Verkís and Daði Þorbjörnsson on behalf of ÍSOR.
In addition to attending meetings with the energy authorities in India, the two companies met with Indian and Icelandic energy companies that are interested in exploring the possibilities of geothermal production and utilization in India.
During the visit, a project management of Indian and Icelandic authorities on the use of geothermal energy in India was established. The (founding) meeting was held on last 4th of March, and was attended by representatives of the Indian Ministry of Energy and the Embassy of Iceland in Delhi. In addition, the meeting was attended by representatives of Indian energy companies as well as Icelandic companies that participate in geothermal projects in India, i.a. representatives of Verkís and ÍSOR. The project management is intended to strengthen the cooperation between the two countries, and encourage further projects in utilization of geothermal energy, as the utilization of geothermal energy is high on the agenda of the Indian government.
Verkís is ÍSOR’s subcontractor in a project in the Puga valley in the Kashmir region, where preparations are under way for the reginon’s first geothermal power plant. Two 1.000 meter deep research wells are being drilled with the intention of investigating the characteristics of the geothermal system, and subsequently utilize the geothermal energy in the area.
The geothermal heat is to be used for electricity generation, house heating and even food production in greenhouses. Current plans aim to start with the installation of a small generation station that will produce around 1 MW of electricity, but to increase the production, if everything goes well. A primitive greenhouse was recently installed in the area, which uses surface geothermal heat for heating. Tests there give good promise for increased future utilization.
Geothermal energy is found in many parts of India, and the potential for its utilization is considerable. Numerous geothermal areas have been mapped and oil companies in India are now looking at the possibility of utilizing geothermal energy, both within areas where oil wells have already been drilled and in new areas.
More projects related to geothermal energy are on the horizion, i.a. investigation whether low-temperature geothermal energy in the mountainous region of Kinnaur in northern part of India can be utilized to run steam-powered cold storage for apples grown there. There are no cold storage facilities in the region today, and therefore farmers are often forced to sell apples at a lower price during harvest time instead of being able to store them in cold storage and sell them over a longer period of time at a higher price, thus creating more value for the society.
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