The government on Thursday said it has taken various measures to fast-track commissioning of pumped storage projects (PSPs) in the country.
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has accorded approval to the Upper Sileru Pumped Storage Project of 1,350 MW being developed at Sileru, Alluri Sitharama Raju district of Andhra Pradesh by APGENCO in a record time of 70 days against the stipulated timeline of 90 days, the Ministry of Power said in a release.
"The government has taken various steps recently in order to ensure that Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) get commissioned on a fast track (basis), thereby accelerating the growth of India’s renewable energy capacity...The CEA fast-tracks approval mechanism for pumped storage projects," it said.
To expedite the process of concurrence of hydro PSPs, the CEA under the Ministry of Power has recently revamped the process for concurrence of detailed project reports (DPRs) of these projects.
It further said the CEA has established a single window clearance cell for this purpose. Nodal officers have been nominated by the Central Water Commission (CWC) for fast-tracking the clearance of design aspects. It has also designated more groups for examination of design aspects of DPRs to further fast-track the clearances.
The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has also nominated nodal officers for fast-tracking the clearance of geological aspects of DPRs, and CEA has requested GSI to involve their subordinates and field offices in states to further fast-track the clearances.
With continuous efforts of CEA and the Ministry of Power, the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF & CC) has agreed to appraise Off Stream Closed Loop PSPs with specific Terms of Reference (ToRs).
MoEF & CC has also been notified to appraise PSPs (on existing reservoirs) under the B2 category (wherein no Environmental Impact Assessment is required), subject to certain conditions. These considerations will drastically reduce the time in getting environmental clearance for these PSPs.
"Under the revised guidelines, the timeline for concurrence of DPR of following PSPs has been reduced from 90 days to 50 days...Timeline for concurrence of DPR of other PSPs has been reduced from 125 days to 90 days," the ministry said.
