Clearance gridlock slows India’s pumped storage drive

LOGJAM PERSISTS

- SAURAV ANAND

WITH THE RAPID growth of variable and intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, the Indian power system is witnessing increasing requirements for flexibility, balancing power and long-duration energy storage, according to a roadmap on pumped storage projects published by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

The document mentioned that pumped storage projects (PSPs) are no longer optional. They are described as “a critical enabler, offering clean, large-scale energy storage solutions that support renewable integration, provide grid inertia, and enhance overall system stability”.

Yet, despite an estimated pumped storage potential of around 267GW, progress in translating this into commissioned capacity has been uneven and slow.

“Several pumped storage projects concurred by the CEA are yet to be taken up for construction,’ the roadmap notes, highlighting that the bottleneck is not project identification, but execution. One of the most frequently cited obstacles is regulatory clearance. The roadmap explicitly flags “issues related with environmental, forest and wildlife clearances” as a major impediment to timely development.