Pumped storage Hydropower in india for integration of intermittent renewable energy

Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) is the most reliable and commonly used option for large scale energy storage purposes worldwide. PSH technology can be effectively utilized to address many issues in power sector e.g. allowing thermal power plants to operate at peak efficiency, energy-balancing, providing operational flexibility and stability to the power system etc. as well as much needed support to the intermittent solar and wind energy. As the contribution of renewable energy is increasing rapidly in the total energy, it becomes more relevant to construct PSH plants to store the energy trapped considering its intermittent nature which may otherwise hamper the stability and security of the power system. This paper presents an overview of the region wise distribution of PSH potential along with the renewable energy potential available in India and highlights the need to develop PSH in different regions to integrate the renewable energy. The 12th (2012–2017) and 13th (2017–2022) Five Year Plans (FYP) of Government of India have set ambitious target of developing renewable energy. Such vast quantity of variable and intermittent energy capacity addition target sets the need to store the energy for which PSH is the most suitable option.