The people of Goryachy Plyazh – a settlement in the Kuril Islands whose name means “Hot Beach” – are making use of the local Mendeleev volcano to heat the whole region. A pipe is being laid to provide a link to a geotherm

Residents of area live right on the shores of the Mendeelev volcano. For them it's a source of many things, except fear.

In the 1990s locals started developing an experimental geothermal power plant. It soon turned out to be capable of heating hundreds of homes as well as a reliable source of comfort, sparing them the trouble of transporting expensive coal from Sakhalin.

Although the presence of a volcano in the neighborhood should ultimately bring tariffs for utilities down, this is not happening, and locals expect the tariffs to be increased.

Specialists say the volcano heat is enough to shut down all the boiler-houses and even the island's diesel power plants.

But Gennady Dobrusin, Sakhalin region administration head, in convinced that the plant needs financing to make it work to full capacity.

“If we had money, we might drill several more wells; the equipment is worn out, and we need to use modern turbines,” Dobrusin said.