RUSSIA: Geothermal power station built in a geyser valley in Russia's Kamchatka peninsula aims to provide region with cheap electricity without polluting environment

Kamchatka's Mutnovka valley, is known locally as the peninsula's small geyser valley, because the landscape is dominated by hot springs or geysers, as well as volcanos and numerous craters. Mutnovka valley geysers are not as numerous as in Kamchatka's famous Geyser valley, and Mutnovka has never attracted large numbers of tourists. But the valley has been the focus of numerous scientific studies since the early 1970's, focusing on the means to produce electricity from steam coming from the natural geysers in the ground. The research showed that by drilling holes and getting out steam which accumulates in the underground reservoirs it is possible to produce large amounts of cheap electricity. About 100 bore holes were drilled throughout the Mutnovka valley in Soviet times. But after the fall of the Soviet Union, the funding of the project was frozen, and all work on the project halted. Only at the end of the 1990's did scientists, with the help of local businesses, again turn to Mutnovka. And in the year 2000 a geothermal station was built there. "The earth itself prepares the steam for us. There is water underground in the reservoir, it turns into steam and we get it out. We do not spend anything to produce this steam. We just purify it and use it to produce electricity. That's what we do," said Vladimir Prokhorov, a senior manager at the geothermal station. Now new bore holes are being drilled through the valley. They are about two kilometres deep as that is where the reservoir with hot water and steam is located. "If you take into account how much a ton of fuel oil costs today, which is about 10,000-12,000 roubles (USD 400-470), then the price of steam which we will get by burning fuel oil and the price of steam we will get from the ground is incomparable," Prokhorov said. The commercial and environmental advantages of producing electricity at the geothermal station have encouraged local businesses to invest more money into research and development of Mutnovka. Several new holes are now being drilled in various parts of the valley in order to find places with maximum amount of steam. Today the Mutnovka geothermal station provides over 30 percent of the electricity used on Kamchatka. But scientists say that the potential of the area is much greater. "According to the forecasts, Mutnovka has enough geothermal resources to produce 300 megawatts. If in the future, plans to build the second and the third blocks of the station will be realised, it will make it possible to provide the whole of Kamchatka with electricity," said Irina Rodomakina, a spokeswoman for the "Geotherm" share-holding company. But Mutnovka has another potential which has not been utilised. After a mudslide damaged much of Kamchatka's famous Geyser valley, companies investing in Mutnovka decided to use its nickname of a small geyser valley to try and promote tourism to the area. "Of course, this place should be protected. Special tourist paths should be made, so the rest of the valley won't be damaged and it will help to preserve this beautiful landscape," said tourist Galina Pashchenko, after visiting Mutnovka for the first time. Mutnovka valley has all the wonders of Kamchatka's main geyser valley, but is much easier to reach. It is located just 150 kilometres from Kamchatka's capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, easily accessible by car - a factor that may help increase tourism. "People should come here to see the beautiful nature; there is snow and green trees here and clay of different colours - blue, brown, as you can see," said Viktor Maksimov, another tourist to the area. But for the time being, local officials want to concentrate on the project to generate clean electricity.

ITN Source | October 15, 2007

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