Himachal Pradesh to explore hot springs for power generation

Action plan to ascertain geothermal potential

The Himachal Pradesh government will explore the possibility of exploiting the hot springs in the state to generate electricity, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said on Friday.

“An action plan to know the geothermal potential of the state will be prepared soon,” an official statement quoting Dhumal said. Himachal Pradesh falls in the Himalayan geothermal province which ranges from Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir to Assam, covering a vast swathe of area and encloses over 150 thermal manifestations.

“Thermal sites in the Parbati and Kullu Valley of the state are known for their high temperatures due to hot springs in the area. Such sites are best suited for developing power projects,” he said. Dhumal said with the exploration of the state’s geothermal energy potential, every household in local areas would be getting adequate and economical power.
He said, even large cold storages could be run on geothermal energy. “This would
enable us to adopt clean development mechanisms and reduce dependency on conventional power sources.

Praising the research on the state’s geothermal energy potential by Vijay Chauhan of the Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi, the chief minister said his research would revolutionise energy generation in Himachal Pradesh.

Chauhan has also received accolades from nuclear scientist and the country’s former president A P J Abdul Kalam, who had praised him for doing research on using geothermal energy for apple refrigeration and the fruit processing industry. His research says the hot springs in Manikaran in the Parbati Valley can run a cold storage of a capacity of 1,000 tonnes and generate 30 KV of power. The power can also be used to run a fruit processing plant with a capacity of 30 tonnes.