Prospecting geothermal energy from hot water springs at Padiyathalawa

Abstract

Being a country with an increasing population, the demand for power is also increased in Sri Lanka As a result there will be a power crisis in the country near future. In this scenario we can not totally depend on the conventional power sources. It is timely to find out alternative cleaner energy sources. Geothermal is a prominent energy source which can produce uninterrupted power supply. Thermal springs of Sri Lanka are a manifestation of the earth's internal heat, and this tremendous potential of geothermal energy is not yet fully investigated for vast range of applications mainly for power generation. This research project mainly focused on assessing the feasibility ofPadiyathalawa hot springs to produced geothermal energy. Mainly geophysical and geochemical explorations were carried out along the target area to locate the fracture pattern and the sources of hot springs. As a conclusion, feasibility study indicates that the all hot water springs are originates at a single source and zone having high fracture density has been identified which is suitable for further investigations. Also two locations have been identified for produce energy combining with another technology using the water having out flow temperature of 44°C.