CEA Approves Hydro-Pumped Storage plant in Odisha and Karnataka

The Central Electricity Authority has recently approved two Hydro-Pumped Storage plants in the country. One will be built in Karnataka and another in Odisha.

Under the provisions of the Electricity Act 2003, any company intending to set up a hydro-generating station requires the concurrence of the Central Electricity Authority. Using this power, the Central Electricity Authority has approved the Sharavathy and Upper Indravati Hydro-Pumped Storage plants project of Odisha and Karnataka, respectively.

2000 MW Sharavathy Pumped Storage Plant 

The 2000 MW Sharavathy Hydro-Pumped Storage plant is being developed on the river Sharavathy in the Shimoga district of  Karnataka. The Talakalale dam of the existing Sharavathy hydel project will be used as the upper reservoir, and the Gerusoppa dam will be used as the lower dam for the proposed Pumped Storage. 

The Rs 8000 crore 2000 MW Sharavathy project is the country’s largest pump storage power generation unit. This mega project, backed by the government of Karnataka, is expected to solve the state's power crisis. 

The project is being developed by the state government company  KPCL and constructed by Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited.

600 MW Upper Indravati Pumped Storage Plant 

The 600 MW Upper Indravati Pumped Storage Plant will be built in the Kalahandi district of Odisha. It will be built on the Indravati River near the existing Indravati Hydel project and will use the released water of the Upper Indravati Reservoir. Under the project, a new dam will be constructed to store the released water from the Upper Indravati Reservoir. 

The Upper Indravati Pumped Storage Plant is being developed by the state government-owned Odisha Hydropower Corporation Limited.

Hydro-Pumped Storage plant 

The principle behind the working of a pumped storage hydropower plant is similar to that of a conventional hydropower plant. The only difference is that the pumped storage hydropower plant has the capacity to use the same water repeatedly. 

• In this project, two water storage dams are constructed. One is located at a height called the upper dam, and the other is located at a lower level called the lower dam. 
• When the demand for electricity increases, water is flown from the upper storage to the lower storage and falls on a pipe, which rotates the turbine. The turbine, in turn, rotates the generators, producing electricity.
• When the electricity demand decreases then the turbines spin backwards, pumping the water back into the upper reservoir so it can once again be used to generate electricity when needed.

Central Electricity Authority  

The Central Electricity Authority was set up in 1951. It is a statutory body under the provisions of the Electricity (Supply) Act of 1948. 

The Electricity (Supply) Act of 1948 has been replaced by the Electricity Act 2003.

It comes under the Ministry of Power, government of India.

It performs a number of functions. It prepares the National Electricity Plan in accordance with the National Electricity Policy.

It approves the new hydel power plant to be set up in India.

It has six full-time members and a Chairman.

Chairman: Ghanshyam Prasad 

Headquarters: New Delhi