Govt plans 13 GW annual hydro storage push from FY29 to meet 50 GW target

The government is looking to add up to 13 GW of hydro pumped storage projects (PSPs) annually, over four-fold from current levels of addition, to have 50 GW of such capacity by 2032, a senior official said on Monday.

Ghanshyam Prasad, Chairperson of Central Electricity Authority (CEA), made the remarks at the 'Conference on Energy Storage - Driving the Clean Energy Transition' in the national capital.

The hydro pumped storage has taken a big leap now, and from this year onwards, roughly 3 gigawatts (GW) of PSPs will get added on an average every year, he said addressing the event organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

"...from (FY) 2028-29 you will find it going in the double digit as well, roughly 10 GW to 13 GW (capacity) getting added each year so that means that multiplied by five times will be the gigawatt hours that will start getting integrated into the systems," he said.

By 2032, the target is somewhere around 50 GW capacity coming from the hydro pump storage, Prasad said.

Later speaking to PTI over phone, the official shared that as of FY25, the capacity of pumped hydro projects in the country was around 4.7 GW.

Pumped storage projects help in stablisation of the grid besides storage of clean energy for use.