India in pact with Iceland on tapping geothermal energy

PTI

India has signed an agreement with Iceland to tap geothermal energy in the country, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah has said.
“We are going deep under the earth”s surface to tap geothermal energy. The potential of it has been identified in Ladakh region, Gujarat and Chatisgarh”, Abdullah said, without giving further details about the agreement.
The minister, who was speaking yesterday at the launch of 2MW variable speed turbine at the Wind Turbine Research Station (WTRS) in Kayathar, said geothermal Energy(GE) would be an important source of energy in future.
He said that once the technology was developed and mastered to tap the GE, it could be shared with other countries.
According to Abdullah, India by 2022, would generate 20,000 MW of power using renweable energy. He said Tamil Nadu continued to lead the country in tapping wind energy.
Tamil Nadu could also focus on producing energy from husk as it was the largest producer of paddy. Village power plants that used husks were successful in Bihar, Punjab and Haryana, he said.
The potential of tidal waves in generating power was being studied. “All possible ways of exploring renewable energy offshore and onshore were being studied”, he said.
Tapping renewable energy as much as possible from solar, wind, biomass and hydropower would make the country pollution free, he said.
He said renewable energy sources was the only way to get power for the 40 per cent of the villages, which remained without electricity.
Abdullah said the ministry was doing its best to see that country did not depend on foreign source for fuel. “India has also the potential to be world leader in clean energy”, he said.