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Blocks identified for UCG as part of clean tech drive

India Coal Market Watch

December 15: Despite failures in the past, the government has identified five lignite blocks and two coal blocks for Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) as part of India’s initiative to develop clean coal technology, sources said.

Both the coal blocks are in the command area of Coal India Ltd (CIL).

UCG is a clean coal technology and provides for extracting energy from the coal seams which cannot be mined through known mining technology.

Successful testing and implementation of this technology in Indian conditions would help in providing energy security, a government official said.

Further, UCG is one of the notified end-uses for allotment of coal blocks through bidding under the Coal Mines Nationalisation Act, 1973.

As per the information received from the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG)/Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), an agreement of collaboration was entered into by ONGC with Skochinsky Institute of Mining (SIM), Russia on November 25, 2004 for development of UCG.

The project was envisaged to be completed in phases and involved site selection for construction of UCG. Eleven sites were evaluated for suitability of UCG and, out of these, one site, namely Vastan lignite block in Gujarat was found suitable.

Subsequently, stages of detailed characterisation and pilot layout and detailed engineering designs were taken up. Additional geological and hydro-geological data was generated for the design and execution of the UCG pilot project.

A total of 21 boreholes were drilled and high resolution shallow seismic survey was carried out for detailed characterisation of the field. The data was analysed and location and layout of the UCG pilot was finalised. The detailed engineering design for construction of the pilot module was prepared by the Ukrainian Institute Dongiproshkht in consultation with SIM.

Environment clearance was obtained and Vastan was allocated by the Ministry of Coal (MoC) to Gujarat Industrial Power Corporation Ltd (GIPCL) for development of the UCG pilot along with ONGC.

In addition, ONGC took the initiative to develop a UCG pilot at Mehsana in north Gujarat to experiment in the area where coal resources were discovered during the course of oil drilling at a depth of 700-1,100 meters.

A national committee was formed with representatives from MoPNG, Department of Coal, CSIR, CMPDIL, the state government of Gujarat and ONGC for this purpose.

In the process, two information wells were drilled. All geological, geo-physical, geo-hydrological data and core samples of coal were collected; detailed lab studies of coal were carried out; 3D seismic survey data were processed and analysed and a geological model was prepared.

Basic designing of the pilot project, completion of drilling and strategy for process wells and designing of surface facilities was also done. However, due to non-finalisation of the contract with CMPDIL, it got delayed and the cost estimates were revised.

It was proposed to get this R&D project funded by the Oil Industry Development Board (OIDB) by availing grant-in-aid. However, when the proposal was processed for approval of the OIDB, the same could not be supported due to escalation of costs and ultimately the project was discontinued in 1992.