Pumped storage hydro projects can help meet our energy goals

News: As per a study done by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), our storage requirement by 2030 is forecast at 41GW. So, there is a need for adopting grid-scale energy storage technologies to complement India’s energy sources and achieve India’s nationally-determined contributions (NDC).

About the status of India’s electricity production and consumption

India is the third-largest producer and consumer of electricity globally, with annual electricity production of around 1,200-1,300TWh and one of the largest synchronous power grids.

As of December 2021, the installed generation capacity of the country stood at 393GW, comprising 235GW of thermal, 151GW of renewable (wind, solar, hydro and biomass) and 6.78GW of nuclear.

What is pumped storage hydro (PSH) plants?

Pumped storage hydro (PSH) plants are storage systems based on hydropower operations between two or more reservoirs (upper and lower) with an elevation difference. At the time of demand, downward water flow generates electricity with a hydraulic turbine, and water is pumped back to the upper reservoir using power from grid or RE sources, with an overall efficiency of 75-80%.

PSH Plants in India

The country has 5,745 large dams, which provide an excellent opportunity for developing PSH plants by placing them in between two large dams or by using one dam and a second reservoir on a hill-top in a manner.

In India, the PSH potential of about 120GW has been identified at about 120 sites. Only nine plants with an installed capacity of 4,785MW have been commissioned so far, and three with a capacity of 2.7GW are under construction.

Significance of Pumped storage hydro (PSH) plants

-PSH plants are highly useful options for the integration of Renewable Energy power with the power system.

-The PSH plants will have a very low impact on biodiversity and involve very few resettlements and rehabilitation (R&R) challenges.

-Promote Atmanirbhar Bharat: PSH plants use domestically produced material and even the electrical mechanical parts are made in India.

What are the challenges associated with the PSH plants?

1) PSH plants have to obtain land, forest and environmental clearances, 2) Users like discoms find them too costly and less attractive as a storage option. 3) With High investment costs and long gestation for a PSH project, private participation has been low, 4) Hydro and PSH projects are a state government legislative subject, and require the support of many policymakers and electricity regulators, apart from state governments.

How to promote PSH Plants in India?

Power storage is a major part of India’s clean-energy mission, and India must enable the setting up of PSH plants through steps like,

1) There is a need to adopt the sustainability guidelines of the International Hydropower Association and to carry out an ex-post analysis of a few operational storage projects, which might help to dispel some apprehensions related to energy storage projects, 2) States should decide and announce a basis for PSH-project allotments through a process that is transparent but different from that for conventional hydro projects, 3)  PSH projects should be delinked from a per-unit energy cost basis for speedy development.

4) The benefits of PSH projects can be shared across state and national boundaries. 5) India must develop market mechanisms and innovative economic models that let energy-storage technologies be evaluated on the basis of merit, 6) Prioritizing projects based on location, duration of storage, availability of a pre-feasibility report, detailed surveys, investigations and project reports, etc.

Source: This post is based on the article “Pumped storage hydro projects can help meet our energy goals” published in Livemint on 07th March 2022.