Integrated energy services provider Seros expects to be able to provide an estimate of the potential for power generation as well as cost projections from its first geothermal project in India in September, MD & CEO Ashish Agarwal told Infralogic.

It intends to start with a 10 MW pilot project in Puga valley in Ladakh – also known as Little Tibet – where Seros has been drilling for the last three years.

“The pilot will help establish the viability and other details, and then we go on to the next phase,” said Agarwal.

The company is also simultaneously planning its second project, he said, but declined to provide details.

Part of India’s Essar Group – according to publicly available filings – Gujarat-based Seros’ business lines include drilling, well services, shipping, offshore support services, logistics and engineering.

Geothermal energy being nascent in India, the target is to be able to provide power at a cost of about INR 7-INR 8 (USD 7-USD 8 cents) per Kw from the current INR 17-INR 18 levels, “which is when it will make commercial sense and there may be some offtakes,” said Agarwal.

“We may get there either through technology enhancements and breakthroughs, other efficiencies, or economies of scale, for which we need to reach single cluster project sizes of at least 100 MW, which is when geothermal can take off in India,” he said.

The Indian government last September notified a national geothermal policy and sanctioned five projects. The Geological Survey of India in 2022 estimated a potential of about 10.6 GW from geothermal sources.

Geothermal energy exploration requires patient capital, a focused approach, and problem solving abilities, according to Agarwal.

“Some of these are very unique to the geography that we are working in, for example, Ladakh has its own challenges of terrain, altitude, and thin oxygen, so we have to work with these conditions, and my team last season was drilling wearing SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) suits,” said Agarwal.

Across the border, China has already demonstrated what scale looks like – the Yangbajain Geothermal Field in Tibet, or the Xizang Autonomous Region, has been operating for decades and remains Asia’s largest geothermal cluster, said Agarwal, adding that India sits on the same geological belt and the potential is identical.

He also pointed to the success of geothermal in Kenya, where it accounts for roughly half of the country’s energy mix.

“The difference is simply that India is at an earlier stage in the journey,” he said.

For now, Seros is willing to commit capital, time and effort in the belief that commercial viability will follow.

“If you look at global examples, any breakthrough technology requires somebody to step up, put in risk capital and have a vision, and we decided to take this leap of faith.”