Tawang, Mar 24: Despite inclement weather in Tawang District, the Centre for Earth Sciences & Himalayan Studies (CES&HS), an autonomous organization under the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh, the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI), Oslo and  Iceland based company Geotropy conducted a weeklong field investigation studies for harnessing geothermal energy and geology structural mapping of hotspring sites at Dirang, Mago, Thingbu, Grenkhar from March 18-24.
After the signing of an MoU between the Centre of Earth Sciences & Himalayan Studies (CES&HS) and the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) in Oslo, Norway in September 2023, first ever feasibility studies have been conducted for harnessing the geothermal energy, which was commenced from Monday.
​A tri-lateral cooperation between India, Norway and Iceland aims to identify and quantify the geothermal potential in various regions of the Arunachal Pradesh with aim to demonstrate its utilization for various applications such as cold storage and drying agricultural products using geothermal energy, heating and cooling of households, hotels, hospitals, water tourism and production of green energy sources for electricity in future.  
The tri-lateral team under the guidance of Director, Centre for Earth Sciences and Himalayan Studies cum Principal Investigator of the project, Er. Tana Tage carried out geothermal field investigations at different potential sites in West Kameng and Tawang districts. The purpose of the field investigations was to obtain samples for geochemical studies and conduct structural geological studies. 
Dr. Vijay Chauhan, Chief Executive Officer of Geotropy Iceland having successful field studies said,“there exists a huge potential for harnessing geothermal energy in Arunachal Pradesh and in the Himalayas in general. He further said that the potential of geothermal energy in the Himalayan region depends upon various factors including the fluid rock interaction and the structural geological conditions at a given location. 
Dr. Rajinder Bhasin, a geotechnical expert from the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) highlighted on a successful pilot geothermal demonstration project carried out earlier in Chumathang village in Ladakh region where geothermal energy was successfully harnessed for space heating of a hotel building which is being utilized by both civilian and military personnel in the area. He further stated that the scope of replicating such a project for use of different application exists elsewhere in the country wherever geothermal potential exists. 
Dr. Bhoop Singh, former Scientist G/Head, Dept of Science & Technology, GoI and currently associated asScientific Adviser to CES&HS said, a planned pilot geothermal demonstration project in Arunachal Pradesh will pave the way for a large-scale utilization of an untapped renewable energy sources that are available in various regions of the state of A.P. The team of scientists from CES&HS, NGI and Geotropy have embarked on an ambitious project which they say will benefit the local society and therefore,shall create a good impact in the whole state. This was the first joint field investigations which lasted for over a week and more are planned in the coming months. The team plans to narrow down on a pilot demonstration project for showcasing the utilization of geothermal energy in Arunachal Pradesh and will conduct further magnetotelluric survey, which will be followed by drilling in the potential sites to tap the geothermal energy.
Due to heavy snowfall, the team was unable to carry out field investigation at Damtheng and Tsechu hot springs, however, during field studies, it was observed that Mago, a remote sleepy village, situated at an elevation of 3614.58 mtr has huge potential for harnessing geothermal energy as every houses are built on it and already utilising for household purposes.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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