GUVNL Issues List of Tenderable PHP Sites With 14 GW Capacity

GUVNL Issues List of Tenderable PHP Sites With 14 GW Capacity

The Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) has now issued the list of 16 reserved Pumped Hydro Storage Project (PHP) Sites. The state power utility said that these 16 PHP sites could be allocated under the competitive bidding process for the benefit of state public discoms. 

The total potential of PHPs from all the 16 sites is pegged at 14,210 MW. The highest potential PHP site indicated in the state is situated at Valsad in a place called Moti Palsan. The total PHP capacity in the site is estimated at 2,400 MW. 

The site indicated in the list included Anjan Kund in Dang. GUVNL said that the total capacity in this site stood at 2210 MW, making it the second most suited site to develop a pumped hydro project. Other PHP sites picked up by the state utility included sites in Valsad, Chhota Udepur, Banaskantha, Narmada, Dahod and Sabarkantha. 

The notification from the Gujarat-utility comes at a time when the Indian government and state utilities have increased their thrust on energy storage options which includes battery energy storage and Pumped Hydro Storage projects. The increase is also indicated with the increase in the quantum of tenders issued by the central and state agencies.

For example–as per a latest report from the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) in 2023 alone India issued a tender for 22 GW of standalone energy storage devices and out of this 290 GW of tenders came from pumped hydro storage projects. 

Several companies believe that compared to the battery energy storage systems (BESS), PHPs are more commercially viable and cheaper in the longer range due to lower Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE). Higher battery component charges, import dependency on critical minerals and the dearth of local manufacturers of BESS makes it a tough fight for the BESS in India. 

The Indian government has also worked towards pushing for more reforms and came out with new policies to boost the growth of PHPs in India. This included coming out with Energy Storage System Obligations (ESO), easing out the setting up of PHPs on off-river sites and others. Estimates from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) said that by 2030, India would need 41.7 GW of BESS and 18.9 GW of PHS. Both the forms of energy storage systems allow the variable renewable energy sources like solar and wind to counter the issues of intermittency of renewable power and make it viable options for grid stability.