Centre sanctions 2,450 MW pumped storage project in Western Ghats

The ₹8,615-crore project by Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) will be spread over an area of 312.84 hectares, about 50 kms away from the district headquarters, in the Sahyadri range

Mumbai: The Centre government has given in-principle nod to 2,450 MW Koyna-Nivakane pumped storage project in Satara.

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The ₹8,615-crore project by Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) will be spread over an area of 312.84 hectares, about 50 kms away from the district headquarters, in the Sahyadri range.

This is the second pumped storage project (PSP) by the AGEL to be sanctioned in the state after the 2100 MW Patgaon pumped storage plant in Sindhudurg and Kolhapur, also in the Western Ghats.

The proposed project falls under the eco-sensitive area of the Centre’s Western Ghat notification of July 2022. However, hydropower projects are permitted in eco-sensitive areas of the ghats, as per Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change’s (MoEFCC) notification on December 20, 2013.

Abha Shukla, principal secretary (energy), Maharashtra, said, “The Western Ghats are a viable location for such projects, which provide round the clock power. Pumped storage will be essential for the state as we attempt to move away from thermal power. Many of the thermal power plants in the state are beyond their shelf-life, or are nearing it, so we must start preparing for alternatives. We are in the process of bringing out a state-level policy on pumped storage, which will be made public in coming weeks. Several MoUs for pumped storage projects have already been signed between the state government and private players, and a few more are in the pipeline.”

According to a pre-feasibility report submitted by the AGEL to the MoEFCC, “Pumped storage hydro-electric projects are the most reliable option available in the current scenario for large-scale energy/power storage systems, which utilises the surplus power available during off-peak period to pump up the water for storage and meets the on-peak demand by utilising the stored water during peak demand.”

As per AGEL’s MoU with the state government, the latter is also pursuing three other PSPs in the state—at Warasgaon and Malshej Ghat in Pune, and Tarali in Satara. The five projects will have a collective capacity of 11,000 MW and will come up in the next four to five years. The MoEFCC in June last year had also granted in-principle approval for the 1500 MW Bhavali pumped storage facility by JSW Neo Energy at Igatpuri.

Unlike traditional hydropower projects, which rely on running water drawn from river systems, PSPs involve a captive volume of water and shifting it between two reservoirs at different elevations without being connected to any rivers. As the water moves from one reservoir to the other, it is passed over turbines to generate power. Water is then pumped back from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir and the process is repeated.