As per the guidelines, state governments may allot project sites to developers through various ways, including competitive bidding, tariff-based competitive bidding process and on nomination basis to CPSUs and state PSUs.
The ministry said that Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) provide the necessary scale of storage and have a long service life of more than 40-50 years, and results in a low cost of delivered energy over the life of the projects.
“PSPs are also non-polluting and are more environmentally friendly’… PSPs account for over 95 per cent of installed global energy storage capacity.
“lt is estimated that pumped hydro projects worldwide store up to 9,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity worldwide,” it said.
Developers shall start construction work within a period of two years from the date of allotment of the project, failing which allotment of the project site shall be cancelled by the state.
However, a one-year relaxation may be granted on a conditional basis, the notification said, adding that no upfront premium will be charged for project allocation. States may exempt land to be acquired by off-the-river PSPs from payment towards stamp duty and registration fees. Government land, if available, may be provided at a concessional rate to the developers on an annual lease rent basis, it added.
“PSPs may be supported through concessional climate finance. Sovereign green bonds issued for mobilising resources for green infrastructure as a part of the government’s overall market borrowings may be deployed in the development of PSPs which utilise renewable energy for charging,” it said.
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) estimates regarding on-river pumped storage potential is 103 GW in lndia.
