A new study has identified geothermal energy as a potentially significant contributor to India’s future power, industrial heat and cooling demand, with technical potential estimated at 450GW of electricity generation, more than 1.5TW of cooling capacity and 11TW of industrial heat.

It noted that the nascent sector would draw on oil and gas expertise, as well as the opportunities presented by well repurposing and regulatory similarities between the oil and gas and geothermal energy sectors.

The report, the Future of Geothermal in India, was published by Project InnerSpace in partnership with the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).

Its findings suggest that even partial deployment of geothermal systems could reduce pressure on India’s electricity network while diversifying energy supply for rapidly growing industrial and urban sectors.

It pointed to improvements in drilling technologies, better subsurface mapping and India’s recently introduced National Policy on Geothermal Energy as factors that have improved the prospects for commercial-scale development.

While India has explored geothermal resources intermittently for decades, progress has remained largely confined to pilot projects because of exploration risks, uncertain drilling outcomes and limited policy support.

The study said that operators are looking to geothermal to meet rising demand from data centres, manufacturing and urban cooling, at a time when India’s electricity consumption and air-conditioning use are increasing sharply.

Unlike solar and wind generation, geothermal systems can provide continuous baseload energy independent of weather conditions.

Researchers identified Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal as states with strong geothermal deployment potential. They noted that these locations "possess both subsurface data and technical expertise stemming from decades of oil, gas and mining activity".

One project already under development is the Tapri Geothermal Cold Storage Project in Himachal Pradesh, supported by Project InnerSpace’s GeoFund initiative.

Jamie Beard, executive director of Project InnerSpace, described industrial heat and cooling as “low hanging fruit” for geothermal deployment, while the CEEW’s Karthik Ganesan said greater energy diversity would be essential as India expands its clean energy system.