#pumpedstorage

CEA has technically appraised many hydro and pumped-storage schemes, but the cited clearance-pending category remains outside construction. Some projects lack final forest approval; others face rights compliance or expired approvals. Appraisal is valuable, yet it does not supply land, finance or a construction award. The 14,649 MW total measures a blocked pipeline, not power the grid can schedule.

CEA's latest record identifies 14,649 MW in the displayed clearance-pending category of appraised or concurred Hydropower Projects that have not entered construction. The list includes conventional hydro as well as major Pumped Storage schemes. Teesta Stage IV still requires second-stage forest approval and forest-rights compliance, while the concurrences for Tawang I and II have expired. Kandhaura, Pane and Shirawta pumped-storage projects have made environmental progress but still lack final forest clearance. The distinction is important for power-system planning: technical appraisal does not make capacity immediately executable. Projects may still require environmental and forest permissions, rights settlement, concurrence revalidation, financing and construction awards. India's appraised Hydro Power pipeline is therefore materially larger than the capacity the grid can presently count on for near-term generation or storage.

The number is impressive: 1,200 MW for six hours and 36 minutes. The project’s current stage is less dramatic—a tender to test whether the site and design can support that promise.

The study will look under the headline capacity. Rock conditions, reservoir design and environmental requirements can decide whether the 1,200 MW figure survives.

The possible output is known. The ground beneath the project still has to answer whether it can be delivered.

Read the full Energyline analysis: - Click here

At 19:20 on 25 July, all five Greenko pumped-storage units tripped together while generating. About 1,200 MW disappeared when Southern grid frequency was close to 49.5 Hz, pushing it down to roughly 49.42 Hz. The unsettling part is not simply the size of the loss. It is that the units left precisely when the system needed generation to remain connected. This is bigger than one plant's relay setting. India is counting on storage for fast balancing in a renewable-heavy system. If common protection logic can remove an entire fleet at an ordinary operating frequency, the asset designed to contain a disturbance can magnify it.

THDC's Pumped Storage project at Humbarli Birmani has progressed after the EAC recommended project-specific Terms of Reference following receipt of an Eco-Sensitive Zone NOC. The Rs 8,470.89 crore development includes six 250 MW reversible units with a combined capacity of 1,500 MW. The project will occupy 334.82 hectares, including forest land, and is located near the Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary and the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve buffer. It is designed to generate 3,207.44 MU annually while using 4,104.50 MU for pumping operations. The estimated levelised tariff is Rs 8.07 per kWh based on a pumping power cost of Rs 2.50 per kWh. Forest and Environmental Clearance approvals remain necessary before implementation. EnergylineIndia.com tracks major Pumped Storage developments across India.

THDC’s Maharashtra agreement covers a 1,000 MW pumped-storage project. The environmental proposal is now 1,500 MW, while the MoU amendment remains in process.

That larger design means 1,650 MW of pumping demand, 49.50 ha of forest land and 40.77 lakh cubic metres of muck to dispose. Projects can evolve, but their approvals must describe the same reality before construction commitments make the mismatch expensive.

Malshej Ghat’s 1,200 MW pumped-storage proposal is off-river, but it is not independent of the river. The plan expects Kalu water for the first fill and later replenishment. A June inspection found the relevant channel largely dry, with one isolated pool.

That snapshot is not a hydrological verdict. It is a reason to demand seasonal proof. A storage plant cannot promise dependable peak power while leaving its refill assumption in the footnotes. Water availability, weak monsoons and competing claims belong in the operating case.

1,200 MW Gone at 19:13

Three trips in two days at India's flagship pumped-storage station, and the outage workbook's Important Event box stayed empty through all of them. Greenko's Pinnapuram — 1,680 MW installed, in Andhra Pradesh — lost 1,200 MW to under-frequency at around 19:20 on 25 July, 240 MW at 01:47 on 26 July with the 400 kV Line-2 and Bus-1, and another 1,200 MW at 19:13 the same evening on MB-2 bus-bar protection. Units 2 to 5 returned inside 42 minutes. Unit 1 is still out, no date. The full timeline, with the operator's own wording, is on the site.