Indian renewable energy firm Greenko Group has unveiled plans to build the ‘world’s largest’ renewable energy storage facility in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
The 5.23 GW project is located in Kurnool and is being developed with an investment of $3bn. Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal is reported to have contributed around $600mn to the project’s development.
The project will include 3 GW of solar power capacity and 550 MW of wind capacity, as well as 1,680 MW of pump storage capacity for six hours.
ArcelorMittal’s investment will be used to build 1 GW of capacity for the solar energy project.
Greenko Group CEO and MD Anil Chalamalasetty was quoted as saying: “With this project, we have pioneered the concept of storage. This was possible due to policy support at the national level and of the state government.”
According to Greenko Group’s managing director Mahesh Kolli, the project is anticipated to be commissioned by next year.
ArcelorMittal first announced the collaboration with Greenko Group for the development of a renewable energy project in Andhra Pradesh in March this year.
The renewable project will combine solar and wind power and be supported by Greenko’s pumped hydro storage project.
Under the terms of the deal, ArcelorMittal will fund and own the project, while Greenko will be responsible for its design, construction and operation.
Once the facility is operational, the clean energy it generates will be sold to ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with ArcelorMittal.
The amount of clean energy purchased under the PPA will be equivalent to reducing nearly 1.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year.
Based in Hyderabad, Greenko Group has 7.5 MW of installed capacity across solar, wind and hydropower generation assets in 15 states across India.
