Singareni Collieries Company Limited is setting up a pilot Geothermal power generation power project at Pagideru village of Manuguru area of Bhadradri district in Telangana.
Such Geothermal power plant is first-of-its-kind in the country, according to the coal mining company.
The State-owned Singareni, in collaboration with the department of Science and technology of the Union Ministry of Coal, will set up the plant at a cost of ₹1.72 crore.
Singareni Collieries chairman and managing director N Sridhar convened a meeting with the representatives of the executing agency Sriram Institute of Industrial Research and set a target of completion of the project by March 2022.
The Geological Survey of India (GSI) and the Singareni authorities found hot steam wells in the Manuguru region during the drillings to identify the coal reserves. The Singareni management sent a proposal to the Union Coal Ministry on tapping geothermal energy from the hot steams in the region. The Union Ministry, after giving its approval, released ₹1.72 crore for the execution of the geothermal power plant to generate 20 kilowatts of power.
The plant would come up on a 3,000 square yards of land and tap the hot steams emanating from the depth of around 1,000 metres, to generate power. The power generation from the proposed plant is expected by March 2022.
Presently, the farmers of the village were using the water for agriculture, washing of clothes and other purposes. Even after completion of the geothermal power project, the locals can utilise the recycled water for their requirements as usual.
Sridhar said that the completion of the pilot geothermal power project in Manuguru region would help the government to take up similar projects throughout the country wherever there were hot water steams.