The Union Ministry of Power stated on Friday that the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has approved two Hydro Pumped Storage Plants (PSPs). These include the 2000 MW Sharavathy in Karnataka, which is being developed by KPCL, and the 600 MW Upper Indravati in Odisha, which is being developed by OHPC Ltd.
The projects have been expedited by fast-tracking the approvals granted to the government-owned companies, OHPC in Odisha and KPCL in Karnataka.
A significant number of Hydro PSP applications (around 60 GW) have also been received by CEA, and they are currently being surveyed and investigated in order to prepare DPRs (detailed project reports). Every developer is preparing for the DPR at a different level. According to the official announcement, following the development of DPRs, the developers will publish these PSPs on the CEA website for approval by the CEA.
According to the official release, CEA further changed the guidelines to streamline the process for preparing DPRs of PSPs and shorten the time required for its concurrence, with the goal of expediting the concurrence process of PSPs in line with the Center’s ease of doing business initiative.
To facilitate the application process, the previously necessary Checklist of Documents for the evaluation of different DPR aspects has been condensed, and developers can now submit the DPR online after finishing the first 13 chapters. To reduce the length of the DPR, certain chapters have also been omitted.
Cost and financial chapters no longer need to be approved in order to be submitted; they are now only needed for records and references.
As was previously the case, submission of the reservoir’s alternative site plan is not necessary for close loop Hydro PSP.
Additionally, the necessity to send the DPR for re-examination has been dropped, which should shorten the concurrence process by four to five months.
Additionally, the procedure for granting early excavation license at the developers’ risk and expense has been expedited to allow the developers to take proactive measures to begin construction at the site. This should save the project’s execution time by about six to eight months. In order for the evaluating agencies to conduct simultaneous operations, the developers have also been advised to complete the investigations on time and turn in the findings. It is also anticipated that this will save roughly one to two months.
To guarantee national energy security, the government has given priority to the development of energy storage systems, especially PSPs. The installed capacity of energy storage systems, including BESS, is predicted to reach 74 GW by 2031–2022, according to the Nation Electricity Plan (Generation).
