CHENNAI: TANGEDCO has been performing well in renewable energy such as solar, hydro, and wind, but has no plans for power storage yet. According to Central government data accessed by TNIE, Tamil Nadu tops the list with 9,866.3 MW in wind power generation capacity, followed by Gujarat (9,209.22 MW). In solar power, the State ranks fourth with a generation capacity of 5,067.18 MW.
All State-owned discoms are playing retailers (purchasing and selling electricity). None of them plan to analyse how to store electricity, said a top official in the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO).“Through pumped storage power plants, water is pumped uphill to a reservoir. Then, the force of the water flowing down the hill is harnessed to produce electricity. But, of 47 hydro plants, TANGEDCO has pumped storage in Kadamparai alone,” he told TNIE.
BMS State general secretary (engineers’ wing) E Nadarajan suggested that the power utility set up more pumped storage power plants to minimise private power purchase.He added that flywheel storage is a promising technology to replace conventional lead-acid batteries and would store energy as well. TANGEDCO might introduce flywheel storage on a trial basis, but is not actively exploring new storage technologies.“TANGEDCO expects the power demand to reach 24,000 MW over the next 10 years. Hence, it is essential to introduce new technologies as early as possible,” he said.
Former member of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission S Nagalsamy also suggested introducing a storage system, and explained that there are no such proper systems globally. Nevertheless, it is possible to store electricity in batteries and distribute it through transmission lines.A senior official told TNIE, “TANGEDCO has a target to deploy 9 Gigawatt of solar plant capacity by 2023.”