The committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has granted environment-related clearance to pumped storage hydropower projects with a total capacity of 11.98 GW. The clearance has been granted for eight projects, involving an investment of Rs 81,981 crore, spread across five states.
At the meeting of the fifth Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) on River Valley and Hydroelectric Projects, it came to the fore that Greenko Energy’s proposal for a 3.66 GW project in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh was the largest project to receive an environment clearance (EC) recommendation. Two projects with capacities of 1.2 GW each, belonging to Sterlite Grid and Gandhwani Energy in Chhattisgarh, received recommendations. Besides these, one project of Oju Subansiri Hydro Power Corporation of 2.22 GW for Arunachal Pradesh and a project of JSW Energy of 1.5 GW for Maharashtra were also given the nod.
The Non-Conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh's (NEDCAP) 1.2 GW project in Annamayya district has been given terms of reference (ToR) clearance. NREDCAP’s one GW project in YSR district also received an environmental clearance nod. A land area totaling 2,507 hectares has been allocated for the projects.
The operationalization of the project is anticipated within the next three to four years. The only project to be deferred was JSW Energy PSP Six’s 1.68 GW project in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh. Comment is sought from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) on the overlapping of the project with the Kandhaura Closed Loop Pumped Storage Project (1.68 GW) and Sonbhadra Pumped Storage Project (1.2 GW).
Pumped storage hydropower uses water stored in two reservoirs at different elevations to generate electricity, and plays a crucial role in facilitating the integration of additional renewable resources into the grid.
