ÍSOR and Verkís took part in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs' trip to India

ÍSOR and Verkís took part in a trip to India on 1–5 March last. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs organised the trip together with the Embassy of Iceland in Delhi. Haukur Þór Haraldsson, business development manager, took part in the trip on behalf of Verkís and Daði Þórbjörnsson on behalf of ÍSOR…

ÍSOR and Verkís took part in a trip to India on 1-5 March last. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs organised the trip together with the Embassy of Iceland in Delhi. Haukur Þór Haraldsson, business development manager, took part in the trip on behalf of Verkís and Daði Þorbjörnsson on behalf of ÍSOR. In addition to meeting the energy authorities in India, the two companies met with Indian and Icelandic energy companies that have an interest in examining more closely the possibilities for geothermal production and utilisation in India. During the visit, a project committee of Indian and Icelandic authorities on the utilisation of geothermal heat in India was established. A (founding) meeting was held on 4 March last, attended by representatives of the Indian energy ministry and the Embassy of Iceland in Delhi. In addition to them, the meeting was attended by representatives of Indian energy companies as well as Icelandic companies taking part in geothermal projects in India, including representatives of Verkís and ÍSOR. The project committee is intended to strengthen cooperation between the countries and to encourage further projects in the field of geothermal utilisation, as the utilisation of geothermal energy is high on the agenda of the authorities in India. Verkís is a subcontractor on ÍSOR's project in the Puga valley in the Kashmir region, where work is underway to prepare the first geothermal power plant in that country. There are plans to continue drilling two 1000-metre-deep research wells, now this summer, with a view to investigating the properties of the geothermal system there and subsequently harnessing the geothermal energy in those areas. The intention is to use the heat for electricity generation, house heating and even food production in greenhouses. Current plans envisage starting with the installation of a small plant that will produce up to 1 MW of electricity, but increasing that production if things go well. Recently, a simple greenhouse was set up in those areas that uses surface geothermal heat for heating. Experiments there give good promise for future utilisation. Geothermal heat is widespread in India and the possibilities for its utilisation are considerable. Numerous geothermal areas have been defined, and oil companies in India are now looking at the possibilities of utilising geothermal energy, both within areas where oil wells have already been drilled and in new areas. More projects relating to geothermal heat, with the involvement of Icelanders, are in progress; among other things, it is being investigated whether low-temperature geothermal heat in the mountainous district of Kinnaur in northern India can be used to run steam-driven cold-storage chambers for apples grown there. There are no cold-storage facilities in the district today, and so farmers are often forced to sell apples at a lower price at harvest time instead of being able to store them in cold storage and sell them over a longer period, thereby creating greater value for the community.