Newsletter
The Indian Government is planning a geothermal push by repurposing abandoned oil wells for clean energy generation.
Geothermal Energy is a clean, always-on energy sourced from underground heat used to power turbines, heat buildings, or support industrial processes.
The deets: India is planning to repurpose closed oil wells to generate geothermal energy, a renewable source of heat drawn from the Earth’s core.
IIT Madras has been tasked with a pilot project under the RE-RTD programme, aiming to set up 450 KW of geothermal capacity across three abandoned wells.
Why it matters: India has an estimated 10,600 MW of geothermal potential but hasn’t even tapped 1 MW yet. As part of its Viksit Bharat 2047 goal, the country aims for 1,800 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity & unlocking geothermal could diversify the mix.
Zoom out: India has over 13,000 closed oil wells, and the plan is to retrofit these as geothermal conduits pumping water down, heating it underground, and bringing it back up to generate electricity.
Since these wells already have the required drilling infrastructure, the model could be a cost-effective alternative to expensive greenfield geothermal setups.
While geothermal isn’t part of the 2030 renewable target (500 GW), this pilot could pave the way for a new frontier in India’s clean energy story powered by what lies beneath.
