The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has approved two pumped hydro storage projects (PSPs) with a cumulative capacity of 2,600 MW.

The Power Ministry said the CEA approved the two projects in record time.

The approved PSPs were the 600 MW Upper Indravati project in Odisha, which is being developed by the Odisha Hydro Power Corporation, and the 2,000 MW Sharavathy project in Karnataka, which Karnataka Power Corporation is developing.

The Power Ministry said that the CEA had received proposals for PSPs with a total capacity of 60 GW to prepare detailed project reports (DPRs).

New guidelines for PSPs

The government has simplified the guidelines for preparing detailed project reports (DPR) of PSPs and their approval.

The checklist of documents required to examine various aspects of DPRs has been shortened. The developers can now submit the DPR online after completing the first 12 chapters. The DPR has been shortened by deleting a few chapters.

Previously, the approval of Cost and Financial chapters was mandated, but now they are to be submitted only for reference.

The revision exempts the requirement to submit an alternative location plan for reservoirs in case of off-stream PSP.

To fast-track the approval process by four to five months, the developer can submit an undertaking stating that the DPR submitted aligns with pre-DPR clearances issued by the appraising various authorities.

Developers can get early excavation permission at risk, and the cost of the developers has been streamlined so that developers can take advanced action to start the work at the site. This is expected to save around six to eight months in the execution of the project.

Developers have also been advised to carry out the investigations in time and submit the investigation reports to the appraising agencies. This is expected to save around up to two months.

As per the National Electricity Plan (Generation), the installed capacity of energy storage systems, including battery storage systems, is projected to be 74 GW by 2031-32.

The ministry said there is a potential of about 176 GW of hydro PSPs in the country, of which 4.7 GW of projects are under operation, 4 GW are under construction, 3.6 GW concurred (construction to be started), and around 60 GW are under survey and investigation.

In May, THDC India invited bids to develop 600 MW to 2,000 MW on/off stream pumped storage projects in various states.

The Coal Ministry has identified 20 abandoned mines to evaluate their feasibility for setting up PSPs and leveraging the economic advantages of land banks.