India approves 2.6 GW of pumped hydro storage

Indian power regulator the CEA has approved plans for two utility-scale pumped hydro storage projects.

On the morning of Aug. 2, 2024, the CEA announced, via its X feed, that it had greenlit plans for the 2 GW Sharavathy project, in Karnataka state, and the 600 MW Upper Indravati scheme, in Odisha.

Stating the approvals emphasized the federal body’s new, streamlined permitting process, the CEA’s post said, “CEA has accorded concurrence to two hydro pumped storage plants (PSPs) namely, 600 MW Upper Indravati, in Odisha, being developed by OHPCL (a Government of Odisha undertaking) and 2000 MW Sharavathy, in Karnataka, being developed by KPCL (a Government of Karnataka undertaking) in record time.”

A press release issued by the CEA stated the electricity authority has received “a huge number” of proposals for other pumped hydro schemes, amounting to around 60 GW of total project capacity.

Developers of those sites have projects at various stages of preparation before the submission of detailed project reports, said the CEA.

India’s National Electricity Plan (NEP), published by the CEA in 2023, calls for 47.65 GWh of pumped hydro storage capacity and 34.72 GWh of battery energy storage systems (BESS) by fiscal year 2026/27, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Those figures rise to 175.18 GWh of pumped hydro and 236.22 GWh of BESS by 2031/32; and 540 GWh of pumped hydro plus 1.84 TWh of batteries by 2047.