ONGC will team up with Coal India Ltd (CIL) for underground coal gassification (UCG) projects across the country, its chairman and managing director Subir Raha said on Thursday. | |
| "UCG is going to be important energy input for India. ONGC was very enthusiastic about the project and will begin with a pilot project this fiscal in eastern India. The ministries of coal and petroleum and natural gas are supporting this move," Raha said. |
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| ONGC had tied up with a Russian outfit, Stochinsky Institute, for UCG. The institute was one of the oldest in the world working on this process. |
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| A Russian team visited India in June. The company had set up a special team for this project. |
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| UCG projects were possible on a large scale as India's coal reserves were much larger than its oil and gas reserves. |
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| According to an estimate, Indian coal reserves could last for another 400 years. In case of oil and gas, India's reserves were only 0.4 per cent of the global reserve. |
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| UCG would yield low pressure gas, ideal for generation of power. In case rich gas was found, methanol or DME could be extracted from them. Russia, United States, Poland, Australia were already commercially using UCG. In the pilot stage, shallow seams would be taken up for gassification. |
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| "CIL would provide ONGC with the necessary mines data and abandoned fields could be taken up," Raha said. |
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| Technology available in India did not allow deep mining. |
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| Moreover, the high ash content (35-40 per cent) of Indian coal would lead waste management problems. |
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| Mining technology used in India left huge volumes of unused coal within mines. |
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| UCG offered an environment friendly solution as ash could be left behind in the pit and would ensure more complete utilisation of coal reserves as well. |
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