Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 63 (2016) 398–413

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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

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Pakistan geothermal renewable energy potential for electric power

generation: A survey
Umair Younas a,n, B. Khan a, S.M. Ali a, C.M. Arshad a, U. Farid a, Kamran Zeb a,
Fahad Rehman a, Yasir Mehmood b, A. Vaccaro c
a
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, Pakistan
b
ComNets Group, University of Bremen, Germany
c
University of Sannio, Piazza Roma, 82100 Benevento, Italy

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Pakistan is among the naturally gifted countries that are rich in conventional and renewable energy
Received 15 July 2015 resources. Despite the massive potential of energy resources, Pakistan is still an energy deficient country
Received in revised form and have to import petroleum products to barely accomplish its energy demand. Geothermal energy is
1 February 2016
still one of the unexplored energy resources for electric power generation in Pakistan. Pakistan can
Accepted 16 April 2016
overcome the energy shortage to a significant level by harnessing renewable energy resources, such as,
geothermal energy. Majority of the geothermal hot springs and mud volcanoes exists within the seismic
Keywords: belt of Pakistan. Therefore, the country has viable geothermal energy manifestations. Several hot springs
Geothermal energy in Gilgit and Hunza region are originated due to the collision of Indian Plate with Eurasian Plate. Simi-
Renewable and sustainable energy
larly, various geothermal reservoirs exist in Northeast to Southeast narrow belt along Indus basin margin.
Geothermal power plant
The survey discusses the current energy crisis in Pakistan and addresses the role of geothermal energy
Tectonic zones of Pakistan
for the economic development of Pakistan. We served the manifestation and geographies of geologically
active zones of Pakistan, like fault lines, plate tectonics, belt, and tectonic thrust, cleanest, base load,
reliable, renewable, and sustainable geothermal energy resources. In our work, the hot springs and mud
volcanoes of geologically active areas in maps are enlisted in Tables with potential features. The schemes
used for extraction of geothermal energy for electric power generation are also investigated. The global
electric power production from geothermal energy is visualized and discussed. Moreover, the suitable
moderate temperature Binary Cycle Geothermal Power Plant for electric power generation in Pakistan is
also described in detail. Furthermore, geothermal plants are experimentally summarized in different case
studies. Finally the performance of geothermal and conventional thermal plants is critically analysed.
& 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
2. Geotectonics of Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
3. Geothermal energy resources in Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
3.1. Hot springs in Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
3.2. Mud volcanoes in Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
4. Electric power generation from geothermal energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
4.1. Dry steam power plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
4.2. Flash steam power plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
4.3. Binary cycle power plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
5. Comparative analysis of geothermal power plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

n
Corresponding author at: COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), Pakistan. Tel.: þ 92 313 5855187, þ 39 329 8751672.
E-mail addresses: umairyounas@ciit.net.pk, umair.ciitatd@gmail.com (U. Younas), bilalkhan@ciit.net.pk (B. Khan), engrhallianali@gmail.com (S.M. Ali),
chaudhry@ciit.net.pk (C.M. Arshad), umarfarid@ciit.net.pk (U. Farid), kamranzeb@ciit.net.pk (K. Zeb), fahadrehman@ciit.net.pk (F. Rehman),
ym@comnets.uni-bremen.de (Y. Mehmood), vaccaro@unisannio.it (A. Vaccaro).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.04.038
1364-0321/& 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
 U. Younas et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 63 (2016) 398–413 399

6. Experimentally investigated geothermal plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

7. Conclusion and future work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

1. Introduction
Fully stabilized energy supply is a need of Pakistan for the
economic development. Due to increase in industrialization,
urbanization, and growth rate, energy demand is increasing
rapidly. Developing countries like Pakistan are facing problem to
overcome the massive energy demand [1,2] and paying
cost on energy import to fulfil the energy demand [3,4]. Due to
aforementioned factor, Pakistan is bearing demand and supply
mismanagement issues in power sector [5–7]. High cast of
conventional fuel forced policy makers to renewable energy gen-
eration. In various categorizes of renewable generation, such as
wind and solar energy, Geothermal energy is still an open
challenge for Pakistan. This energy generation plant, feasibility
study and reports, and data analysis is never touched in past
decades.
The author in [8] described per capita energy consumption is
directly related to economic development of Pakistan. The
worldwide per capita energy consumption is listed in Table 1. The
major contribution of global power generation capacity is illu-
strated in Fig. 1. The authors in [9] described that energy demand
will potentially increase. While, conventional energy resources
will deplete with time, cause increases in prices and largest source
of environmental emissions [10].
The conventional energy resources emits harmful emissions in
environment including CO2, SOx, and NOx . Due to depletion of
coal, petroleum, and natural gas reserves, renewable energy
resources is the best solution for future electric power generation.
The renewable energy resources including solar, wind, biogas, and
geothermal energy resources are environment friendly, produce
less emission, viable, and alternative resource of power generation
to meet the future energy demand. The energy demand is
increasing at the rate of 2% annually, while renewable energy
generation is capacity is increasing at rate of 5.2% annually which
is even more than twice of demand. Thus, renewable resources are
the best solution to balance energy demand and supply.
Renewable energy resources originates from natural resources,
such as sunlight: water, wind, ocean tides, and biomass energy. In
Pakistan resources are unlimited and replenished naturally [11,12].
Pakistan has a great potential of aforementioned renewable
energy resources in various provinces such as in Punjab, North
West KPK, and in 1000 km (km) coastline of Sindh, the average
wind speed is almost in the range of 5–7 m/s [13]. Similarly,
Pakistan has high irradiance of solar energy and 1600 GW gen-
eration is possible annually from solar photovoltaic [14]. Solar
power is an expensive option for high power generation. On the
other hand, geothermal energy comprises around 2% of the
renewable energy generation [15]. A surveyed, geothermal energy
possesses the potential of producing 240 GW of electrical energy
[16]. Geothermal energy, on the other hand, constitutes 5% of
scientific studies in renewable energy, led by U.S. Geological Sur-
vey [17].
The authors in [18] stated that, solar and wind energy resources
are intermittent in nature, expensive sources, and complex control
schemes are required to achieve electric power for grid as com-
pared to geothermal energy. According to Geologists, structural
studies confirm that Pakistan lies on junction of tectonic plates.
Therefore, country has abundant geothermal reservoirs including
low, medium, and high temperature to support energy sector to a
significant level [19]. Worldwide, more focus is given to geother-
mal energy. Global installed capacity of geothermal energy in the
year 2015 is illustrated in Fig. 2 [20]. Unfortunately, Pakistan has
no geothermal power plant yet installed [21]. So, among all the
above-mentioned renewable energy resources, geothermal energy
is the least exploited energy resource for electric power generation
in Pakistan.
Geothermal energy is the heat energy present inside the earth
surface in the form of hot springs, fumaroles, volcanoes, and
geysers. This heat inside the earth is naturally created due to the
continuous decay of fossil fuels (20%) and radioactive minerals
(80%) [22,23]. Moreover, geothermal energy is one of the cleanest,
abundant, reliable, renewable, and sustainable energy resources.
Consequently, it produces less carbon emissions as compared to
coal, oil, and gas [3]. In addition, the key benefit of geothermal
energy is its 24 h availability, so called base load energy resource,
while solar works only in daylights while wind turbines only work
in the presence of favourable wind speed [4].
The occurrence of geothermal energy is analysed in four different
types, namely hydrothermal, geo-pressured, hot rock, and dry rock.
Due to versatility for various daily lie applications, the most explored
form is hydrothermal resources [24]. Aforesaid geothermal energy
resources provide temperature variations respective to the depth of
reservoir well. However, the temperature is minor near to the surface
and increase down towards core of earth. 1.5 km deep well of geo-
thermal reservoir provide hot water to the surface [17]. The hot water
is further utilized in various direct heating and indirect (electric power
generation) applications [25]. The critical analysis of depth and

Table 1
Global power generation capacity till end of 2012.

Country Per capita energy consumption (KWh)

USA 13,361
France 7756
Germany 7217
China 2942
Turkey 2474
India 644
Sri Lanka 636.3
Pakistan 457
Nepal 454.1
Bangladesh 278.1
Afghanistan 119.8
Fig. 1. Shares of global energy resources.
400 U. Younas et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 63 (2016) 398–413
Fig. 2. Worldwide geothermal based electric power generation.
Fig. 3. Structural view of earth surface with respect to temperature.
temperature of geothermal energy reservoir is performed through
structural view of earth is presented in Fig. 3. The comparative ana-
lysis of global direct utilization of geothermal energy is demonstrated
in Fig. 4 [26].
The authors in [21] described the global importance of geo-
thermal power generation that till the end of 1990, World total
geothermal installed capacity was 6017 MW over “130” turbine-
generator units. This installed capacity was equivalent to almost
“6” nuclear power plants or “12” coal fired power plants. While in
2003, more than 9000 MW energy was generated by geothermal
resources for electric power generation in various countries
including United States, Philippines, Mexico, Indonesia, Italy,
Japan, New Zealand, Iceland, Costa Rica, and Kenya [27,28]. This
power generation is just 0.25% of the total world power genera-
tion. Internationally more focus is given to install economical and
base load geothermal energy source, some of the installed geo-
thermal power plants generation capacity is illustrated in Fig. 5.
Although, survey is conducted by elaborating [17,29–34] that
Pakistan also had plenty of hydro geothermal reserves as descri-
bed in Table 2. However, geothermal based electric power gen-
eration is still not explored [35].
Beyond the theoretical research, Pakistan can generate power
for industrial, commercial, and domestic utilization [29,36]. As
already mentioned, the two main geothermal power mechanisms
are Hot Dry Rock (HDR) and Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS).
HDR geothermal resource lies almost 4 km to 6 km below the
hydro-geothermal energy. While, EGS are now used to extract HDR
geothermal energy by pumping hot water down using injection
well. In addition, HDR geothermal energy is benefited through
extraction from anywhere in the world unlike hydro-geothermal
energy [37]. Practical efforts are required from public and private
sector to ensure sustainable surplus power generation.
The main contributions of our survey are:
 Initially, the barriers to the Pakistan current energy crisis are
discussed. Moreover, the contributions of conventional energy
sources in current energy scenario of Pakistan are also addres-
sed. In addition, the survey explains the role of geothermal and
other renewable energy resources to overcome the energy
problems of Pakistan;
 The origin and classification of geothermal energy are also
discussed. Moreover, the survey addresses the potential geolo-
gically active areas of Pakistan that has structural tectonic fea-
tures like fault lines, plate tectonics, belt, and tectonic thrust;
 Furthermore, hot springs and mud volcanoes in geologically
active areas are located in maps and their potential is enlisted in
various tables; and
 Finally, the techniques used for extraction of geothermal energy
for electric power generation are investigated. Likewise, global
electric power production from geothermal energy is visualized.
Moreover, the suitable moderate temperature Binary Cycle
Geothermal Power Plant for electric power generation in Paki-
stan is also evaluated.
The rest of the survey is structured as follows: Section 2
identifies the geothermal active zones of Pakistan. The potential
geothermal reservoirs including hot springs, fumaroles, and mud
volcanoes of Pakistan are explained in Section 3. Electric power
production based on geothermal power plants is addresses in
Section 4. Section 5 elaborates the comparative analysis of geo-
thermal energy with thermal power plants. Experimentally
 U. Younas et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 63 (2016) 398–413
Fig. 4. Global direct utilization of Geothermal energy from 1995 to 2015.
Fig. 5. Worldwide installed geothermal based power plants.
investigated geothermal plants are presented as case studies in
Section 6. Finally, Section 7 concludes with a brief summary and
proposal for future work.
2. Geotectonics of Pakistan
Geographically, Pakistan is scattered 240 N to 370 N latitudes
and from 610 E to 760 E longitudes with total land area of
800,000 km2 [25]. Moreover, North-East to South-West area is
about 1700 km, whereas East-West area is almost 1000 km2. The
geography of Pakistan extends from North (Mountain region) to
South (coastline of Arabian Sea). Pakistan is located in geothermal
active zones and this geothermal activity occurs due to collision,
convergence, and rift events. However, in the South-Western part
of Pakistan, structural features strike Eastward in Makran region
and turns Northward parallel with the Pakistan Fold-Thrust Belt.
Similarly, towards North they approaches Himalayas and strikes to
the Northeast before curving into the general ESE direction of the
Himalayas. In above-mentioned locations main tectonic thrusts of
Pakistan are described by [38] are; (a) Main Boundary Thrust
(MBT), (b) Main Mantle Thrust (MMT), and (c) Main Karakorum
Thrust (MKT). The detailed description of aforementioned tectonic
features of Pakistan is further presented in Fig. 6 [39]:
Pakistan is situated on west-rifted margin of Indo-Pakistan
Sub-continental plate. The authors in [39] confirmed that;
(a) Pakistan partly lies on Western side of Indian lithosphere plate,
(b) Some parts lies on the Southern part of Afghan craton, and
(c) Partially situated on the Northern part of Arabian ocean Sub-
ducting plate. In addition, the research of [40,30,41–44] geo-
tectonic knowledge suggests that Pakistan is rich in geothermal
energy resources due to its presence on seismic belt. Furthermore,
Pakistan has numerous geothermal active areas having huge
potential of geothermal energy. The geothermal energy reservoirs
are found in three geothermal environments as mentioned in
401
given Fig. 7. (a) Geo-pressurized systems related to basin sub-
sidence, (b) The seismic-tectonic or suture-related systems.
(c) Neogene–Quaternary volcanism systems. In [45], the authors
illustrated that the North-West Himalayan folds and thrust belt are
the active fold–and–thrust belt along the North-Western margin of
the Indo-Pakistan Plate. The Panjal-Khairabad fault divides it into
hinterland zone toward the North and the foreland zone into the
South. The hinterland zone is also referred as the “Hazara Crys-
talline” Zone [46] and Himalayan Crystalline Zone [47], whereas
the foreland zone lies between the Panjal-Khairabad Fault and the
Salt range thrust along with its Westward extension [48].
The history related to geo-tectonic development of Pakistan is
based on the late Cretaceous to Cenozoic period, which comprised
of: (a) Indo-Pakistan shield and its Northern sedimentary cover
(the Indian Mass), (b) the rocks deposited on the southern part of
the Eurasian Mass, and (c) Kohistan Island Arc Sequence [49]. From
the Achaeans times, the Indian Subcontinent was a part of
Gondwanaland which consists of South-America, Africa, Antarc-
tica, Australia, and India. Though, a vast stretch of Tethys Sea
existed between the Indo-Australian part of Gondwanaland and
the Eurasian Mass. About 130 million years ago, the Indian Ocean
plate departed from Gondwanaland and started drifting towards
Eurasia with the simultaneous consumption of the Tethys Sea
plate [50]. Therefore, due to intra-oceanic subduction in front of
the Indo-Pakistan plate, Kohistan Island Arc Sequence is produced
on the north of the subduction zone. The first contact of this Island
Arc is with the Indo-Pakistan plate, which finally collided with the
Eurasian Mass. The Kohistan Island Arc Sequence is contrasted
between the Indo-Pakistan plate and the Eurasian plate. A major
thrust fault called the MMT separates the Indian Mass from the
Kohistan Island Arc Sequence while another thrust fault called the
MKT marks the boundary between the Kohistan Island Arc
Sequence and the Eurasian Mass [38]. Also, it is further investi-
gated that, the geothermal manifestations under investigation lie
along the MKT thrust fault that is still active and geothermal heat
is generated by the friction between these faults [29].
Most of the geothermal resources exist within seismic-tectonic
belt zones. Pakistan is also geothermal active country because of
its presence on seismic belt. Therefore, numerous hot springs are
located in Pakistan having temperature variations. These hot
springs are categorized on the basis of temperature ranges. High
temperature reservoirs can be used for electric power generation,
while low temperature resources are beneficial for direct utiliza-
tion including green-house heating, fishing, farming, bathing etc.
[3]. These potential resources addressed by the authors in [51] are
listed below:
402 U. Younas et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 63 (2016) 398–413

Table 2
Survey of geothermal energy resources of Pakistan.

Ref. no. Location GR ST (°C) TC DP IP PPT CPG PPG

[17] Murtazabad Hot Spring 172–212 Moderate ☑ ☑ BCP ✗ ☑

Budelas Hot Spring 172–212 Moderate ☑ ☑ BCP ✗ ☑
Karakoram Granodiorite Hot Spring 172–189 Moderate ☑ ☑ BCP ✗ ☑
Mango Pir Hot Spring 71–98 Low ☑ ☒ BCP ✗ ☑
Karsaz Hot Spring 138–170 Moderate ☑ ☑ BCP ✗ ☑
[29] Chicken Dik Hot Spring 29.9 Low ☑ ☒ ✗ ✗ ✗
[30] Gilgit Region Hot Springs 24–71 Low ☑ ☒ RCP ✗ ☑
Hunza Region Hot Springs 50–91 Low ☑ ☒ RCP ✗ ☑
Salt Range Mianwali Hot Springs 30 Low ☑ ☒ ✗ ✗ ✗
Chagai Volcanic Arc Mud Volcano 64 Low ☑ ☒ RCP ✗ ☑
[31] Dadu District Hot Spring 41 Low ☑ ☒ RCP ✗ ✗
[32] Mashkin Hot Spring 86–169 Moderate ☑ ☑ BCP ✗ ✗
Garam Chashma Hot Springs 85–252 Moderate ☑ ☑ BCP ✗ ✗
Koh-e-Sultan Thermal Springs 25–32 Low ☑ ☒ ✗ ✗ ✗
Hakuchar Hot Spring 49–50 Low ☑ ☒ RCP ✗ ☑
[33] Koh-e-Sultan Mud Volcano 150–170 Moderate ☑ ☑ BCP ✗ ✗
[34] Tatta Pani Hot Spring 85 Low ☑ ☒ RCP ✗ ☑
Murtazabad Balai Hot Spring 91 Moderate ☑ ☑ RCP/BCP ✗ ✗
Murtazabad Zareen Hot Spring 89 Moderate ☑ ☑ RCP/BCP ✗ ✗
Darkut Pass Hot Spring 62 Low ☑ ☒ RCP ✗ ☑

✓ ¼Explored, ✗ ¼ Not Explored, ☑¼ Possible, ☒ ¼Not Possible

GR ¼Geothermal resource, ST¼Surface Temperature, TC ¼Temperature Category,
DP ¼Direct Applications, IP ¼Indirect Applications, CPG ¼ Current Power Generation,
PPT¼ Power Plant Type, PPG ¼ Proposed Power Generation, BCP ¼Binary Cycle Plant,
RCP ¼Rankine Cycle Plant.

Fig. 6. Tectonic features of Pakistan (After Zaigham and Malliack).

 Himalayan Collision Zone.
 Chagai Volcanic Arc.
 Indus Basin Margin.
Pakistan is a huge museum of geological formations and from
centuries and had variety of rocks exists. In Pre-Cretaceous a
period Indian mass are buckled with Africa and still exists. While,
in Late Cenozoic period, Indian plate collides with Eurasian mass,
forming huge chains of mountains in North and North West of
sub-continent, namely Himalayas, Karakorum, and Hindukush [9].
The mountains are still considered as geologically active areas of
the world. By report of Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) “110”
types of sedimentary formations has been identified in different
regions in Pakistan and still various places are not investigated.
The low to high enthalpy brines geothermal reservoirs addressed
by [52] are illustrated in Fig. 7. Moreover, the most famous areas
are active in geothermal reservoirs including: (a) Rakaposhi is
steepest place on the earth, (b) K2 is second highest peak in the
world, and (c) Nanga Parbat is the highest mountain in the world.
Fumaroles of pure dry steam are emitting from foothill side of the
Nanga Parbat. This dry steam is a geothermal energy source and
found rare in the world. Furthermore, some important potential
areas added in research by [51] are demonstrated in Fig. 8 and
listed below:
U. Younas et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 63 (2016) 398–413 403

Fig. 7. Tectonic features of Pakistan.

Fig. 8. Geology of Western Himalaya (adapted from Edwards et al. [110]).

404 U. Younas et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 63 (2016) 398–413
 Northern Areas of Pakistan contains variety of hot springs with
high and intermediate temperature.
 Western Baluchistan has hot springs with high temperature
brine whereas South Baluchistan region has hot springs with
low brine temperature.
 Zone of Indus Basin and Western Sindh comprised of geother-
mal resources present with moderate and low brine
temperature.
 South-Western and Northern Punjab region has low brine
temperature resources.
3. Geothermal energy resources in Pakistan
Pakistan is one of the propitious developing countries that exist
on the seismic belt having great geothermal potential. Geothermal
manifestations in Pakistan are investigated in the form of hot
springs, mud volcanoes, and geysers [53,18,54,55,51] respectively.
In Pakistan, there is a prodigious potential of hot springs and mud
volcanoes. Various geothermal indices are present in Northern
Area, Chagai Area, Karachi, and Hyderabad. Hot springs with high
brine temperature are present in the North Western Baluchistan.
South Baluchistan hot springs have brines of modest temperature.
However, Indus Basin and Western Sind zone have hot springs
with modest to low brine temperature. Similarly, South-Western
and Northern Punjab have low brine temperature reservoirs. The
abovementioned geothermal resources are concentrated along
MMT, MBT and MKT that are created as a result of the collision of
Fig. 9. Geothermal resource potential of Pakistan.
Source: Geological Survey of Pakistan
Indian plate with Eurasian plate as mentioned earlier [32]. The
geothermal manifestations are rigorous along these structures, as
demonstrated in Fig. 9 [32].
3.1. Hot springs in Pakistan
Major geothermal reservoirs of Northern Area of Pakistan are:
(a) Tatta Pani, Tao, (b) Mushkin, (c) Sassi, (d) Budelas, (e) Hakuchar,
and (f) Chu Tran. The detailed description of these locations is
illustrated in Fig. 9. Northern areas of Pakistan including Kar-
akorum, Hindukush, and Himalayan belt have high geothermal
activities [53]. Hot springs of Chitral region are related to Hindu-
kush fault system. Enormous hot springs with temperature ranges
of 300 °C to 1700 °C are present in various areas of Pakistan [18].
Physical and chemical characteristics of hot springs of Northern
Areas of Pakistan are tabulated in Table 3 [32,53].
Moreover, the hot springs of Murtazabad, Budelas, Sassi and
Dassu are associated with MKT, while the hot springs of Tatta Pani
and Mushkin are associated with the MMT. These thermal springs
are caused by the friction between MMT and MKT. Reshun and
Ayun fault domain comprise thermal springs that are situated
approximately 50 km North-West of Chitral at Garam Chasma
valley [56]. Near the snout of Pechus glacier, a hot spring exists
almost 105 km North-East of Mastuj [54]. Some hot springs are
cited in district Yasin at 3 km North of Rawat Village. Near Mur-
tazabad, 7 thermal springs are present that are scattered on right
side of the Hunza River. The average surface temperature of these
sites is 400–910 °C recorded [57] that is listed in Table 4 [55].
 U. Younas et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 63 (2016) 398–413 405

Table 3 Table 5
Physical and chemical characteristics of hot springs in Northern Areas of Pakistan. Physical and chemical properties of hot springs in Chagai Volcanic Arc.

Location Hot Reservior tem- Features of hot Remarks Location Hot Reservior tem- Features of Remarks
spring perature (°C) water spring perature (°C) hot water
No no.

Murtazabad 1 42.3  Colourless Bathing Chicken Dik 1 29.9  Colourless CaCo3

 Odourless Washing cloths  H2S smell deposition
 Tasteless  Salty taste
2 36.9  Colourless Washing for Koh–e-Sultan 1 29.5  Pale brown Discharge
 H2S smell prayer Voleanies  Odourless from river
 Sour taste  Salty taste bed
3 30.0  Colourless Boiling 2 32.2  Pale brown CaCo3
 H2S smell temperature  Odourless deposition
Budelas 1 46.0  Colourless Bathing  Salty taste
 H2S smell 3 32.0 Same as above CaCo3
 Salty taste deposition
2 36.0  Colourless ✗ 4 26.9  Colourless Salt discharge
 H2S smell  H2S smell
3 91.0  Colourless ✗ 5 25.5 Same as above Sulphur and
 H2S smell salt discharge
Tatta Pani 1 83.0  Colourless ✗ 6 27.5  Pale brown Fe discharge
 H2S smell  Odourless from river
 Salty taste  Salty taste bed
2 65.5 Same as Above ✗
3 78.0 Same as Above ✗
4 80.0 Same as Above ✗
Mashkin 1 57.0  Colourless Cloth washing Table 6
 H2S smell Characteristics of Karachi hot spring (After Todaka et al. [29]).
Sassi 1 54.0  Colourless CaCo3
 Odourless deposition Location Temperature Features of hot water Remarks
Chu Tran 1 43.9 Same as above CaCo3
deposition Karachi Mangopir 50.3  Colourless Use for bathing
 Odourless
Karsaz 39.0  Colourless Use for bathing
Table 4  H2S smell
Temperature estimation of Gilgit and Hunza agencies of Pakistan.

Location Reservoir temperature (°C)
Chilas 20
Jaglot 10–65
Murtazabad 26–91
Hakuchar 49–50
Budelas 39–40
The thermal springs associated with MKT are present in wes-
tern side of the Hunza Valley. Beside these springs, five geothermal
springs of Murtazabad region are also located. The temperature
ranges of Murtazabad thermal springs ranges from 260 °C to
910 °C and temperature recorded ranges from 198 °C to 212 °C
[58]. Furthermore,. Similarly, towards South-East side in Skardu
District, two sulphur springs and three hot springs are explored in
the Dassu area. The maximum water temperature of these springs
is 71 °C. In geological prospective, Dassu is similar to Murtazabad
and Budelas. Thermal Springs of Chagai Magmatic Arc exists near
Koh-e-Sultan Volcano in Baluchistan. Chagai Volcanic arc is com-
posed of a narrow belt that spread out Eastwards opposite to the
chaman transform fault. Structured feature is created by subduc-
tion of Arabian plate under the Eurasian Plate. The volcano at the
North side of Makran region, Koh-e-Sultan and other volcanoes in
Chagai volcanic arc areas created the result of subduction [18]. The
surface temperature of these thermal springs is recorded as 25–
32 °C . North-West part of Koh-e-Sultan has great potential of
geothermal energy. Features of North-West part of Koh-e-Sultan
springs are illustrated in Table 5 [59].
Moreover, two thermal springs also exists in Karachi. One is at
Mango Pir and second is at Karsaz. The features of two hot springs
of Karachi are listed in Table 6 [57].
In [60], the geothermal activity of Nanga Parbat (Haramosh
Massif) forms hot springs along the faulted margins of the massif.
Similarly, on the eastern side, hot spring near Mushkin associated
with the MMT. Moreover, temperature of reservoirs ranges from
86 °C to 90 °C. Several hot springs in Tatta Pani are scattered in
about 8 km area and emanate from the Raikot fault zone along the
western margin of the Nanga Parbat (Haramosh Massif) at Sassi
and at Tatta Pani, along the Indus River. The hot springs of Garam
Chashma and Tatta pani are shown in Fig. 10(a) and
(b) respectively. At Sassi spring field temperature of spring is 54 °C,
whereas the reservoir temperatures range from 40 °C to 48 °C [59].
The Indus and Baluchistan sedimentary basins are enriched in
hot springs associated with siesmo-tectonic zones [61]. Further,
Kirthar has three hot springs ranges located on west of Dhadar,
near Sanni to South of Thal. According to [53], the Mach and Kir-
thar range has a pile of sediments more than 10 km thick. That
region is of high seismicity. In the Harnai valley; prominent ther-
mal springs are located associated with the Harnai and Tatra faults,
where earthquakes of magnitudes 6 to above 7 on Richter scale
have been recorded [52–54]. Similarly, two hot springs are located
to the north of the Zhob valley that is among the series of imbri-
cated faults in a region of relatively high seismicity.
3.2. Mud volcanoes in Pakistan
Mud volcano is the discharge of mud, fluid, and gases from rock
formation in the area of high sedimentation. According to [51], a
mud volcano is basically a small and temporary place formed by
radiation of gases from the earth. The mud volcanoes may also
present under sea or ocean. Mud volcanoes are created due to the
subduction zones. Mud volcanoes are described onshore and off-
shore along Makran Region Baluchistan [62–66]. Moreover,
famous mud volcanoes in Makran Region are Chandragup, Jabel-u-
Ghurab, and Khandewari are sketched in Fig. 11 [63].
406 U. Younas et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 63 (2016) 398–413

Fig. 10. (a) Hot spring of Garam Chashma and (b) Hot spring of Tatta Pani.

Fig. 11. Active mud volcanoes in Coastal Belt of Makran region.

The geothermal activities occurs more near to fault lines at the Table 7
junction of the tectonic plates. The Authors in [67–69] explained mud Characteristics of various clusters/sub clusters of active mud volcanoes based on
satellite images [77].
volcanoes originate due to fault activities. Sometimes, mud volcano is
used to locate active fault system. Frequent fault activities causes Name of the No. of mud Range of cov- Range of crater
earthquakes, the authors in [70–74] presented a deep relationship cluster volcanoes ered area (ha) diameter metres
between earthquakes and mud volcanoes. In last 66 years, three (m)
severe earthquakes cause appearance of Mud Island in coastal belt of
South Chandragup 4 11.90–138.0 22.5–145
Makran Region [66,75]. Furthermore, more than “80” mud volcanoes North Chandragup 5 01.70–1921.0 9.0–118
are explored in Pakistan, maximum number of that are in Baluchi- West Chandragup 2 43.70–64.5 108.0–112
stan [76]. Seven mud volcanoes lay North East of Aghor and “11” mud Jabel-u-Ghurab 4 0.60–02.6 1.5–11
North Khandewari 3 0.09–308.2 13.5–110
volcanoes located between Kutch and Gwadar. Numerous mud vol-
South Khandewari 3 41.00–163.4 Up to 138
canoes in coastal belt of Makran Region near town village of Gwadar, Kund Malir 16 0.04–118.6 1.0–4.5
Ormara, Kund, Malir, Bela, and Awaran which are listed in Table 7. South Awaran Hills 8 0.03–265.7 1.0–10.5
The authors in [77] addressed more than “70” mud volcanoes North Awaran Hills 9 0.13–336.2 1.0–7.5
locations on Landsat-5 image of Coastal Belt. Furthermore, this Sipai Sing 3 0.19–10.21 5.0–85
East Ormara 6 0.63–20.92 1.0–67
mud volcanoes active zone is called as Makran Zone of Active Mud Central Ormara 1 10.5 1.0–30
Volcanoes (MZAMV). The MZAMV zone is divided into “14” sub West Ormara 4 0.06–00.47 1.0–6
clusters features of subdivision are illustrated in Fig. 12 [77]. Gwadar 2 0.11–0.46 1.0–7
Moreover, the earlier mentioned Chandragup, Jebel-u-Ghurab,
and Khandewari clusters, [77] and other discovered mud volca-
noes within the clusters, namely Awaran Hills, Sipai Sing, Kund cluster is presented in Fig. 13. Moreover, the mud volcanos of
Malir, Ormara, and Gwadar clusters are located in coastal belt of coastal belt and Hingol are demonstrated in Fig. 14(a) and
Makran Region. According to the research of [78] large extent of (b) respectively [63]. Likewise, the mud volcanoes of Makran
mud volcanoes exists in Baluchistan. Chandragup mud volcano region and Hingol are illustrated in Fig. 14 [78].
 U. Younas et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 63 (2016) 398–413 407

Fig. 12. Major structural features and their relationship with mud volcanoes and their deposits.

Fig. 13. Google Satellite Image of Chandragup Cluster of Mud Volcanoes.

Moreover, the earlier mentioned Chandragup, Jebel-u-Ghurab,
and Khandewari clusters, [77] and other discovered mud volca-
noes within these clusters, namely Awaran Hills, Sipai Sing, Kund
Malir, Ormara, and Gwadar clusters are located in coastal belt of
Makran Region. According to the research of [78] large extent of
mud volcanoes exists in Baluchistan. Chandragup mud volcano
cluster is presented in Fig. 13. Moreover, the mud volcanos of
coastal belt and Hingol are demonstrated in Fig. 14(a) and
(b) respectively [63]. Likewise, the mud volcanoes of Makran
region and Hingol are illustrated in Fig. 14 [78] respectively.
4. Electric power generation from geothermal energy
Geothermal resources are available in three temperature ranges
[79]: (a) Low Temperature, (b) Moderate Temperature, and
(c) High Temperature. Temperature greater than 150 °C is high
temperature while, temperature more than 90 °C and less than
150 °C is moderate temperature and temperature lower than 90 °C
considered as low temperature. For different ranges of temp-
erature, separate geothermal plants are used for electric power
generation. Comprehensively, the main categories of geothermal
power plants are:
 Dry steam power plant.
 Flash steam power plant.
 Binary cycle power plant.

Geothermal Power Plants convert thermal energy of geother-

The geothermal energy found in different temperatures depend
mal resources into electricity. The above plants are categorized on
on the location of the place. Geothermal energy has high potential
the basis of temperature of the thermal resource. The Geothermal
and high geothermal gradient at tectonically in-active places.
Power Plant mainly consists of:
408 U. Younas et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 63 (2016) 398–413

Fig. 14. Mud volcanoes of Makran region: (Left) Coastal belt mud volcano; (Right) Hingol mud volcano.

Fig. 15. Schematic of geothermal power plant.

 Scheme for collection, treatment, and thermal fluid to

power plant.
 Power generation mechanism including; steam manifold, tur-
bine, generator, transformer etc.
 System to reinject condensed water to geothermal reservoir.

The toxic emissions from the geothermal plants are dependent

on the type of reservoir. However, the environmental emissions of
geothermal power plant are comparatively much lower than fossil
fuels plants. The schematic diagram of geothermal power plant is
presented in Fig. 15 [80].

4.1. Dry steam power plants

Globally, dry steam plants are operated on very high tem-

perature geothermal reservoir. The temperature is greater than
150 °C. Steam plants utilize hydrothermal fluids that are mainly Fig. 16. Dry steam geothermal power plant.

steam. The steam reduces the need to burn fossil fuels to run the
turbine. (Also eliminating the need to carry and hoard fuels). This
is the oldest type of geothermal power plant. It was first used at
Lardarello in Italy in 1904, and is still very effective. From inside of
earth (Geothermal reservoir) steam is transferred to turbine
through pipe. The high temperature and pressure steam rotates
the turbine. The Electrical generator is operated by the turbine and
electrical output is produced for electrical load [18]. This approach
to utilize geothermal energy is restricted because dry-steam
hydrothermal resources are very odd. These plants produce only
excess steam and very minor amounts of non-condensable gases.
For dry steam resources either atmospheric exhaust turbines or
condensing steam turbines are used. New developments of
improved Geothermal Systems (EGS) are focus on improved sys-
tems, using existing deep reservoir resources. The aim of such
projects is the development of supercritical fluid reservoirs with
steam temperatures up to 400–600 °C. The majority of the geo-
thermal reservoirs in Pakistan are in moderate or low temperature
range. Therefore, dry steam geothermal power plant is not eco-
nomical for Pakistan. The schematic of dry steam geothermal
power plant is illustrated in Fig. 16 [81,82].
 U. Younas et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 63 (2016) 398–413 409

Fig. 17. Flash steam geothermal power plant.

Fig. 18. Binary cycle geothermal power plant.

4.2. Flash steam power plants

Table 8
Global leaders of installed Geothermal Power Plants, 2015.
Hydrothermal fluids above 182 °C can be used in flash plants to
make electricity. Fluid is sprayed into a tank held at a much lower Country Binary plants Dry steam plants 1F, 2F, and 3F plants
pressure than the fluid, causing some of the fluid to rapidly
vaporize, or “flash” [18], also termed as “Wet Steam Power Plant”. USA 873 1584 60, 881, 50
The vapour then drives a turbine, which drives a generator. If any America 1008 1584 968, 1391, 50
Philippines 219 – 1286, 365
liquid remains in the tank, it can be flashed again in a second tank Mexico 75 3 466, 475
to extract even more energy. Flash power plants can be categor- Italy 1 795 120
ized in single flash and multiple flash plants. Hot water is collected New Zealand 265 – 209, 356, 132
in a vessel and as water pumps to the generator water is released Japan 7 24 355, 135
Indonesia 8 460 873,
from hot geothermal reservoir and abrupt change in pressure force
El Salvador 9 – 160, 35
some water to be converted into steam. The steam rotates the Nicaragua 8 142 –
turbine and finally electrical output received by generator that is Kenya 4 543 –
operated by turbine action as presented in Fig. 17 [81]. Flash steam Iceland 10 – 564, 90
Turkey 198 – 20, 178
plant is the best solution.
China 3 – 1, 24
France 2 – 10, 5
4.3. Binary cycle power plants Portugal 29 – –
Australia B 1 0.02
21 Countries DS, 1F, 2F,B, H 330 6017.446
Binary Cycle Geothermal Power Plants are used for low tem-
perature applications. The hot water heat up another fluid having 1F¼ Single Flash, 2F ¼Double Flash, 3F ¼Triple Flash.
low Boiling Point (BP) organic compound, fluid like butane
(BP¼  0.5) by heat exchanger. Steam of that fluid is used to rotate
the turbine and further turbine operate generator for electrical geothermal steam is first converted into mechanical work. This
output. Two fluids in binary cycle power plant are: mechanical energy is further used to turn turbine for small scale
electric power generation. As mentioned earlier that globally more
 Geothermal Fluid (Extracted from geothermal reservoir). focus is given to geothermal energy for last decade. Likewise, the
 Working Fluid (Low boiling Point). geothermal power generation based on aforementioned schemes is
significantly increased in 2015 as listed in Table 8 [20,21].
Geothermal fluid transfer its energy to working fluid using heat
exchanger and working fluid is converted into steam.
The steam operates the turbine, steam is then condensed and 5. Comparative analysis of geothermal power plants
prepared for the next cycle. Geothermal fluid is sent back to
reservoir for maintaining internal temperature of the geothermal The first geothermal power plant was installed at Lardarello,
reservoir. Furthermore, binary cycle plant operated at temperature Italy in 1904. The power generation of the plant is 5 KW. Moreover,
85–175 °C. The temperature has very less carbon emission [83]. in mid-1960, New Zealand, USA started generating electric power
Pakistan has plenty of geothermal reservoirs having Moderate and from geothermal energy resources. This power generation is fur-
low temperature. According to [84], small scale electric generates ther exceeded to approximately 9000 MW [86]. Pakistan is abun-
from low temperature-reservoirs. The schematic for Binary power dant in geothermal reservoirs of moderate temperature, the
plant is demonstrated in Fig. 18 [81]. The Binary Cycle Power plant country has the potential generate electricity from geothermal
operate at medium temperature. Therefore, Pakistan can generate reservoirs using Binary Cycle Power Plants. Furthermore, being an
electricity by introducing binary cycle power plants [85]. energy deficient country, Pakistan need to install economical,
The authors in [83], suggested that electric power generation in reliable, and base load geothermal plants to overcome its long
Pakistan is achievable from moderate temperature geothermal term energy shortage. The comparative analysis of geothermal
reservoirs using HCFC-124 model Binary Power Plant. Pakistan geo- power compared to thermal and coal power plants are listed in
thermal reservoirs have moderate temperature ranges. Furthermore, Table 9. Geothermal is the clean source having negligible smoke
latest development of Stirling engine methodology is used for gen- emissions compared to fossil fuel power plants as demonstrated in
erating geothermal based electric power in Pakistan. In this process, Table 10 [23,87].
410 U. Younas et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 63 (2016) 398–413

Table 9
Comparative analysis of geothermal power plants with traditional thermal and coal power plants.

Ref. no. Features Geothermal power plant Traditional (coal, thermal) power plants

[18] Average Cost (Rs/Kwh) 3 4.5

[88] Capacity Factor (%) 90–98 65–75
[89] Advantages  Indigenous and renewable  Conventional and diminish (coal, oil and gas)
 24 h available (base load)  Dependent on weather
 Environment friendly  Cause more emissions
 Smoke free  Smoke is emitted due to combustion
Drawbacks  High drilling cost  Comparatively low generating cost
 High transmission cost  Comparatively low transmission cost
 Site specific  Can be generated at desired place
 Land subsidence due to extraction of fluids
 Earthquakes caused by injection water in faults
 Well blowouts and excessive noise from drilling well

Table 10
Comparison between thermal and geothermal emissions.

Emission Nitrogen oxide (NOx) Sulphur oxide (SO2) Particulate matter (PM) Carbon dioxide (CO2) Reference

Sample Impact  Lung irritation  Wheezing  Asthma Global warming produced by carbon dioxide and [90]
 Coughing  Chest tightness  Bronchitis it increases:
 Smog formation  Respiratory illness  Cancer  Sea level
 Water quality  Ecosystem damage  Atmospheric deposition  Flood risk
deterioration  Visibility impairment  Glacial melting
Geothermal Emission 0 0–0.35 0 0–88.8 [90]
Thermal Emission 4.31 10.39 2.23 2191 [90]

Table 11 SO2 (lbs/MWh) CO2 (lbs/MWh)

Comparison of emissions from different power plants [92].
20
Plant fuel CO2 emissions(lb CO2/MWh)
15
Geothermal 180
Natural gas 1135 10
Coal 2249
5

0
Table 12 Coal Oil Geothermal (Max) Geothermal (With Gas Injection)
Comparison of land occupied by power plants.
Fig. 19. Comparison of CO2 and SO2 emissions from geothermal and conventional
Technology Land occupied (M2/MWh/30 years) power plants.

Geothermal 0.40
Coala 3.64
Soar Thermal 3.56
Photo Voltaic 3.24
Windb 1.34
a
Includes Coal Mining.
b
Land Occupied by Turbines and Service Roads.
Pakistan has plenty of hot water geothermal reservoirs. Therefore,
any geothermal fluid is suitable to heat the binary fluid in Binary
Cycle Power Plant for generating electricity in Pakistan. In USA,
similar technology of hot water geothermal is used to generate
electricity [91]. Binary Power Plants normally used for moderate
temperature greater than 100 °C. In this survey, the similar plant is
proposed for electric power generation in Pakistan. Geothermal
power is environmentally benign, produce minimum emissions, and
less plant area is required. Emissions comparisons between geo-
thermal and conventional power plants are illustrated in Table 11.
Furthermore, the land impact for geothermal based power
plants is also comparatively minimum. Only few acres required for
instalment of geothermal plant. Besides, with appropriate siting
and trade-offs, the power plant is also feasible for frivolous and
scenic applications. The comparative analysis of geothermal and
conventional power plants is demonstrated in Table 12 [93].
Geothermal power plants works for 90–100% of the time.
Though, the coal and nuclear power plants stay online for 75% and
65% respectively. Moreover, geothermal power plants produce
13.38 g carbon/KWh emissions, whereas natural gas, oil, and coal
yield 453 g, 906 g, and 1042 g carbon/KWh respectively. Geother-
mal Power Plants use steam for generating electric power instead
of fuel. As a result, the plant produces less than 1% CO2 emissions.
The detailed comparative analysis is presented in Fig. 18.
6. Experimentally investigated geothermal plants
With collaboration of Chinese academy of science, Guangzhou
Institute of Energy Conversion built Binary Cycle power plant
having working fluid ammonia-water in Sanshui, Guangdong
province, China in 2010. The operating capacity of the plant is
10 kW and working fluid is 60% ammonia-water. The system
consists of: absorber, exchanger, screw, cooling tower, electric
generator, and so on. Ammonia vapour is generated in the eva-
porator from 60% concentrated ammonia solution along with
geothermal water. The screw generator is driven by the vapour;
also it is further absorbed in absorber by dilute ammonia to recycle
process. Moreover, the system is monitor by various equipment i.e.
pressure gauges, flow rotators, and thermometers [94–97]. In
 U. Younas et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 63 (2016) 398–413 411

Table 13
Summary of experimentally investigated geothermal power plant: case studies.

Case Ref. Country Reservoir Year Mean res. T Domain (km2) Size Bocks no. Generation Fluid flow rate
studies (°C) (MW) (kg/m2)

2 [98–100] Nicaragua Momotombo 1983– 240–340 3.1  2.4 3 km depth 972 32  357
1989
3 [101] New Zealand Ngatamariki 2008– 80–120 10.5  11 5 km depth 24,128 130  695
2009
4 [102–104] Italy Larderello 2009– 200–300 70  70 7.5 km 10,000 150 1300
2010 depth
5 [105,106] New Zealand Wairakei 1958– 250–260 30  30 3.4 km 8055 140  1460
2008 depth
6 [107] Germany Groß 2000– 125–150 4.8  5.5 0.6 km 489,591 200  21
Schönebeck 2010 depth
7 [108,109] Ethiopia Tendaho Rift 1970– 245–290  2.5  4 3 2 km depth 700 3.5 140
1990

Table 13, various practically active geothermal power plants are
critically analysed and reviewed as case studies. The various case
discussed are changed from each other by different aspects. The
topology of geothermal field cases fluctuates between medium
enthalpy-water dominant to dry-steam dominant fields. The size
ranges from some km to 100 km along with temperature, fluid
flow rate, generation, and domain variations.
Pakistan widely implements conversion of low-grade heat
source into electricity. The basic motive of the above said studies is
to practically construct geothermal plant on the proposed site
discussed and described above in near future.
7. Conclusion and future work
Renewable energy generation plays a pivotal role in the develop-
ment of the country. In renewable sector, geothermal energy is more
cheap production, as compared with the conventional energy prices.
With proper surveying the site and data analysis, controlled geo-
thermal plants will yield features, such as: (a) cheap energy, (b) stable
power output, (c) grid-support, and (d) financial development of the
country. The present study of the geo-tectonics suggests that Pakistan
lie on the junction of tectonic plates. Therefore, the country is abun-
dant in geothermal energy resources. Pakistan should take part in
practical implementation of aforementioned resources to overcome
long term energy crisis. The review is further strengthened by
addressing the geothermal active zones of Pakistan. Various hot
springs are located along MKT, MMT, and MBT in Pakistan. Further-
more, in Makran region along coastal belt several mud volcanoes are
identified. Moreover, indications of Quaternary Volcanism in Chagai
Volcanic Arc. The review further explained that majority of the
springs and volcanoes possess moderate temperature range. Pakistan
has the potential to generate electricity from the moderate tem-
perature steam using Binary Cycle and Rankine Cycle Power Plants to
overwhelm the energy shortage. Moreover, practically active geo-
thermal plants are also critically and analytically investigated and
reviewed as different case studies in detail.
In near future, data from various sites of geothermal will be
collected and analysed. Moreover, based on various case studies
and historical plants, recommendations will be finalized and
proposed model will be critically investigated.
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