India’s Maharashtra attracts billions of dollars for renewables, green H2
Maharashtra officials signed multiple MoUs for renewable energy, pumped storage, and green hydrogen projects. Key agreements involve MAHAGENCO, REC Power, THDC, Hindustan Petroleum, and JSW Neo Energy. SJVN will develop 505 MW of floating solar and 8 GW of pumped storage, investing INR 480 billion. MEIL will build two hydro stations totaling 4,000 MW for INR 211 billion.
Officials from the government of the Indian state of Maharashtra were busy on Thursday signing several memoranda of understanding (MoU) that outline the planned investment of billions of dollars in local renewable energy, pumped storage and green hydrogen projects.
According to a series of social media posts by deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (MAHAGENCO) and the state’s Department of Water Resources have signed pacts with REC Power Development and Consultancy Ltd, THDC India Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, SJVN Ltd, Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) and JSW Neo Energy Ltd.
SJVN announced separately the signing of a couple of MoUs for the development of 505 MW of floating solar parks and more than 8 GW of pumped storage in the state of Maharashtra.
Under the terms of one of the pacts, SJVN will install a floating solar power system at the Lower Wardha Dam in two phases, starting with 100 MW. The counterparty to this MoU is MAHAGENCO.
The other MoU is with the state’s Department of Water Resources and envisages the development of five pumped-storage projects with a total capacity of 8,100 MW, including Kolmondapada (800 MW), Sidgarh (1,500 MW), Chornai (2,000 MW), Baitarni (1,800 MW) and Jalvara (2,000 MW).
SJVN estimates that it will need to invest a total of INR 480 billion (USD 5.74bn/EUR 5.14bn) and that the projects will create around 8,400 direct and indirect jobs.
As previously reported, MEIL’s role is to develop two pumped-storage hydro stations in Maharashtra with a combined capacity of 4,000 MW for a total cost of INR 211 billion.
(INR 10 = USD 0.119/EUR 0.107)
