After unveiling its plans to harness wind energy, ONGC, the country's leading crude and gas producer, now plans to foray into solar and geothermal energy.
The company is in talks with four companies, including a US-based firm, for setting up a photovoltaic cells unit.
The oil and gas major is also exploring geothermal energy for which it is in talks with the Iceland government. All these projects will be carried out under its ONGC Energy Centre housed at Rajiv Gandhi Urja Bhavan, New Delhi.
"Currently, we are studying a report submitted by Iceland's director general of hydrocarbons," said sources close to the development. About 80 per cent of Iceland's energy requirements is met with geothermal energy, said sources.
ONGC Chairman R S Sharma, who was in Kutch in Gujarat recently to inaugurate the group's maiden foray into wind energy, said, "We are in talks with three to four players for our solar energy project." He said that various pilot projects were going on at the Energy Centre, which included geo-thermal energy.
Among various players, ONGC is learnt to be in talks with the US firm, Silicon Valley-based Sun One, for setting up a 60-MW PV cells unit in India, said sources familiar with the development.
Sun One is in the process of setting up a 60-MW solar unit in Germany and ONGC is exploring the possibility of replicating the project in India, sources added.
"If we take a conservative figure of Rs 12 crore (Rs 1.2 billion) per MW of energy produced from solar, the estimated cost of producing 60 MW would be about Rs 700 crore (Rs 7 billion)," according to a solar energy expert. A senior ONGC official, however, said the project was at a nascent stage.
The Energy Centre was set up last year for carrying out research in alternate energy sources beyond oil and coal.
ONGC, which currently produces 80 per cent of the oil and gas production of the country, is also banking highly on uranium mining for which it has entered into a 50:50 JV with Uranium Corporation of India.
"Our login data for hydrocarbons also contain information on uranium. We are working on cost estimates and assessment and our drilling expertise will come handy," said A K Balyan, director, HR.
In India, the per capita consumption of energy is 0.38 tonne per annum which is less than one-third of world average of 1.2 tonnes annually.
With demand for crude likely to rise from 400 million tonnes oil equivalent of energy to 1,000 million tonnes by 2020, ONGC is looking at becoming an integrated energy player with focus on renewable energy.
The ONGC chief had said that the 50 MW wind farm was on "a pilot basis" and they aim to go beyond it on a commercial basis.
The company is mulling to generate as much as 1,000 MW from wind energy in coming years, sources said. This would require an investment to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion), sources added.
ONGC's growing interest in alternative sources of energy was evident as the entire board (except director, offshore) were present at the wind farm inauguration in remote Jhakhau area in Kutch. Gujarat contributes 75 per cent of ONGC's oil production.
