Torrent Power says 3,000-MW Karjat pumped storage project outside Bhimashankar Sanctuary

Raigad (Maharashtra): Torrent Power has defended its proposed 3,000-megawatt pumped storage project in Karjat, Maharashtra, against environmental concerns, saying the project is located about 16 km from the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary and that all its components fall outside the sanctuary and its eco-sensitive zone.

The company in a statement said the project, which will supply power to Maharashtra, would support grid stability as the share of solar and other renewable energy rises, while reducing reliance on coal-fired generation during evening peak hours. It also rejected reports of tree felling inside the sanctuary, describing them as based on incorrect information.

Pumped storage projects store surplus electricity, typically from solar and wind generation, by pumping water to an elevated reservoir and releasing it to generate power when demand rises.


"Proposed project is located about 16 km away from the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary. All project components are outside the sanctuary boundary and the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ). Further, no project works are proposed near the Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga temple," the firm said.

"The project underwent a comprehensive statutory process over approx. 18 months, including detailed studies, public hearing, appraisal by the Expert Appraisal Committee and Forest Advisory Committee, multiple site inspections and clearance conditions before it received statutory clearances including Environmental Clearance, Forest Clearance and Forest Diversion Order."

Torrent said its project would have a life of up to 80 years and supply about 6,570 million units of electricity annually, enough to meet the evening power needs of around 5.5 million homes.

The company estimates the project would avoid the burning of 4.33 million tonnes of coal annually and prevent about 5.85 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year compared with coal-based generation. Over its projected life, the cumulative avoided emissions could reach 468 million tonnes, according to Torrent.

It also estimates annual reductions of 36,800 tonnes of sulphur dioxide, 10,600 tonnes of nitrogen oxides, 1,200 tonnes of particulate matter and up to 0.66 tonnes of mercury. The project would avoid the use of about 19.7 billion litres of cooling water annually, while preventing the generation of around 1.64 million tonnes of fly ash and the need for 40 hectares of new open-cast mining each year, the company said.

Torrent said the project would require about 233 hectares of forest land, adding that its land requirement was around 52 times lower than that of a conventional hydropower project of comparable capacity. The company said the project had received environmental and forest-related statutory clearances following an approval process lasting about 18 months, involving studies, a public hearing, expert appraisal and site inspections.

The company said mitigation measures include a wildlife conservation plan, catchment-area treatment, compensatory afforestation and long-term habitat management.

Torrent plans to plant about 60,000 trees across the project's green belt, muck-disposal site and other areas. It has also identified 253 hectares of private land, with an existing tree cover of about 70,000 trees, and handed it over to the Forest Department as compensatory afforestation land, where a further 30,000 trees are planned, it said.

The company said the project would store water that would otherwise flow downstream towards the sea and operate in a manner complementary to the river system. It also claimed the project's carbon benefits would outweigh the emissions associated with trees felled for construction, saying the latter would be offset in about 10 days of operation.

The proposed project comes amid a broader push to expand energy storage capacity as India's growing reliance on intermittent renewable power increases the need for electricity that can be dispatched when solar generation falls after sunset. Pumped storage is one option for balancing supply and demand, although individual projects can still face scrutiny over forest diversion, biodiversity impacts and local environmental consequences.

Torrent Power operates across electricity generation, transmission and distribution.

"The project has a limited land requirement of about 233 ha of forest land, which is a fraction of the larger Sahyadri forest in the area. Expert appraisal considered flora, fauna and wildlife. Mitigation includes a Wildlife Conservation Plan, a Catchment Area Treatment Plan, compensatory afforestation and long-term habitat management," it said.

The project, it said, requires about 52 times less land than a hydro project of similar scale. The intended operation is complementary to the river system and stores water which would have otherwise flowed to the sea.

"Torrent would plant approx. 60,000 trees across the green belt, muck disposal site and other project areas. Further, about 30,000 trees would be planted on the 253 HA (625 acres) Compensatory Afforestation land provided by Torrent. In about ten days of operation, the project offsets the CO2 from the trees felled for the project. Over the project life, the benefit is about 3,000 times the loss," the statement said.

The project will supply power to Maharashtra and will play a critical role in Maharashtra's grid stability and clean energy integration.

"The power generation mix has undergone a major change in the last decade with the addition of a significant amount of solar capacity, and today solar contributes about one-third of the installed capacity in the country. With such high penetration of renewable power, particularly solar power, which is available only during the day, energy storage has today become the need of the hour to ensure grid stability, peak load management and round-the-clock power.

"Pumped Storage Project (PSP) is a clean and efficient long-duration storage solution with a project life of up to 80 years. The power grid, which would have otherwise depended on coal and other polluting sources for electricity generation during the evening/night, is able to use clean energy harnessed and stored during the day to meet the energy demand," the statement added.