MP CM lays foundation stone for India's largest pumped storage project

New Delhi: Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday virtually inaugurated India's largest pumped storage project, being developed by Greenko Group, in Madhya Pradesh.

According to an official statement of Greenko, the project, which is located in the Khemla block, Neemuch district, Madhya Pradesh, has a capacity of 1440 megawatt (MW), with storage for 7.5 hours and is now being expanded to 1920 MW with storage of 6 hours to provide a storage of nearly 11 Giga watt hours (GWh) daily.

The overall investment will total Rs 11,500 crores over the next three years and generate 4800 jobs during construction and 200 jobs after completion of the construction. An additional Rs 15 crore will be invested in local community projects to support indirect jobs such as small infrastructure contracts, hiring of vehicles etc. It will be completed within 30 months as against allocated period of 36 months by statutory authorities, it added.

When completed, the project will be able to integrate more than 7000 MW of renewable capacity.

This project is an off stream open loop project as it envisages the construction of new off stream reservoir known as the upper reservoir and the existing Gandhi Sagar Reservoir will be used as lower reservoir. The proposed upper reservoir shall be made by construction of a 5,970-metre-long and a 35-metre-tall Asphalt Face Rockfill Embankment Dam (AFRD).

"The inauguration marks a milestone in India's clean energy efforts," said Group CEO and Managing Director, Greenko Group Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty. "It is a moment of great pride for Greenko that we have pioneered to deliver 24/7 dispatchable renewable energy solution, for industrial decarbonization and energy transition. Achieving this is made possible through national-level policy backing and the forward-thinking guidance of the Honourable Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan ji. Greenko is committed to facilitate a comprehensive shift towards carbon-free energy through integrated solutions.

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