New Delhi: The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) to explore the formation of a Joint Venture Company (JVC) for exploring and setting up hydropower and pump storage projects at NHPC Corporate Office, Faridabad, on Wednesday.
The MOU was signed in presence of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), NHPC Limited AK Singh, and Chairman, DVC, Ram Naresh Singh.
The MOU heralds a new dawn in cooperation between the two Power Sector organizations in jointly harnessing the hydropower projects and pump storage projects as energy storage solutions in line with the national objective of energy transition i.e. 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030 and Net Zero by 2070. The MOU envisages the joint development of mutually identified projects.
Recently, the DVC unveiled a growth roadmap to double its installed capacity of 6,900 MW at an investment of around Rs 50,000 crore over the next seven-eight years, with focus on renewables.
The company has firmed up plans to add around 3,700 MW of thermal capacity in brownfield expansions by 2030 with a capex of nearly Rs 30,000 crore, officials said.
“In line with Union Power Minister R K Singh’s vision, we have embarked on a major expansion of three brownfield projects, adding 3,700 MW in total by 2030. We also have renewable power projects in solar and pumped storage projects,” said the DVC Chairman.
The DVC Chairman had said that the company would execute the solar and pumped storage projects through joint ventures to reduce burden on its balance-sheet. It has also proposed to add 660 MWx2 at Raghunathpur, 800 MW at Durgapur and 2×800 MW at Koderma, as part of the brownfield expansion.
DVC is also looking at adding 2,150 MW in solar and 2,100 MW through two pumped storage projects (1500 MW at Lagu Pahaar in Jharkhand and 600 MW in West Bengal’s Purulia district), which would entail investment of another Rs 20,000 crore, the officials said.
