Mumbai, April 29 The Maharashtra Water Resources department, Maharashtra State Power Generation Corporation Ltd. (MAHAGENCO), Mahagenco Renewable Energy Limited (MREL) and Avaada Aqua Batteries, on Tuesday, signed three MoUs for an investment of Rs 57,260 crore to set up pumped storage hydropower projects at nine sites to generate 8,905 MW.
These MoUs were signed in the presence of the Maharashtra Chief Minister and Energy Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
These projects will generate 9,200 jobs.
The MoUs for the pumped storage hydropower project with the Water Resources Department and MAHAGENCO with a capacity of 3,145 MW, 2,110 MW through Mahagenco Renewable Energy Limited and 3,650 MW with Avada Aqua Batteries.
Through MAHAGENCO, projects of 125 MW at Ghatghar, 220 MW at Kodali, 1,200 MW at Varasgaon and 1,600 MW at Panshet will be set up.
Through Mahagenco Renewable Energy Limited, projects of 110 MW at Mutkhed, 1200 MW at Nive and 800 MW at Varandaghat will be set up.
While through Avaada Aqua Batteries, projects of 2,400 MW capacity at Pawana Falyan and 1,250 MW capacity at Sirsala will be set up.
"The state is leading the way towards becoming self-sufficient in the field of energy generation. The state government has focused on pumped hydropower projects to make the state energy-rich along with green energy generation. Maharashtra will become more capable in energy generation due to the MoU signed between these companies. Further, Maharashtra will be leading the state in having large number of pumped hydropower projects," said Chief Minister Fadnavis.
He also directed that the relevant agencies should make efforts to complete the works in the energy sector within the prescribed time frame in the coming period.
CM Fadnavis said that pumped hydropower project is a unique and latest technology in the non-conventional energy sector.
These hydropower projects will not only meet the growing demand for electricity for agriculture, industry and commercial sectors, but will also protect the environment as sustainable and green energy will be generated, he added.
"The government intends to generate 50 per cent of the state's total energy generation capacity through non-conventional energy and planning and works are underway in this regard," he said.
The state government has already released a comprehensive policy to promote pumped hydropower generation projects with the involvement of private sector, CM Fadnavis added.
Pumped storage hydropower project (PSP) provides many benefits to the grid such as frequency regulation, phase modulation, reactive power compensation, incidental backup and black start, he said.
PSP is effective tool for peak load management of the grid, he added.
It consumes energy in off peak hours and generates in peak hours.
In renewable energy smoothing, it helps smooth out variability of the renewable energy sources for stabilisation of grid, thereby making them integration stable.
Through ancillary services, it helps to manage reactive power requirement of the grid and thereby supports the voltage management of the system.
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