Coal Ministry to set up pump storage projects on closed mines

28 Aug 2023 , 09:30 AM

Coal India Limited (CIL) and its subsidiaries plan to put up pump storage projects (PSP) over vast areas of decoaled (closed mines) land as part of a significant diversification strategy.

According to well-placed sources, the plan to establish such projects in the first phase would be finalized within a month, as the central government is quite optimistic about such initiatives.

The coal ministry’s ambitious objectives include diversifying into different energy sources, and through these pump storage projects, it intends to use solar energy to create hydro projects.

The power ministry issued guidelines for the PSP initiative earlier this year, and the coal ministry intends to construct such projects based on them, according to sources.

Under it, the CIL and its subsidiaries will use their closed mines, which have water stored in them, to elevate it through solar energy. It will put up reservoirs over such shuttered mines where the lifted water would be kept. During the night, the water lifted by solar energy will be used to generate hydro electricity.

Under PSP, all coal mines where coal has been evacuated and water exists will be converted into reservoirs after feasibility studies, and reservoirs above them will be built as well. We will use solar energy to lift subsurface water and store it in above-ground reservoirs, and during the night, we will generate hydro energy to power the turbine, according to the source.

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