To meet up the evening peak shortfall of the state after 2030 and onwards, West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) is planning to develop another 1000 MW Pumped Storage type Power Project at Ayodhya hills under Baghmundi Block in Purulia District in addition to the existing 900 MW Purulia Pumped Storage Project which is successfully in operation since 2007-2008.
The Turga Pumped Storage Project on Turga nala is a closed loop type Pumped Storage Project located in Purulia district of West Bengal.
The Turga Pumped Storage Project envisages utilization of rainfall in the catchment of the Turga Nala in Ayodhya hills for peak power generation for a Pumped Storage type project development. The project envisages construction of Upper Dam (C.A. 8.29 Sq. Km) across Turga Nala, a tributary of Subarnarekha river and a water conductor system with an underground Power House on the downstream of Upper Dam and a Lower Dam (augmenting the existing Turga Dam of I&W Dte., Govt. of West Bengal) having intermediate catchment of 4.37 sq. km (total C.A. 12.66 sq. km).
The Project comprises of four Reversible Pump-Turbine units each of 250 MW Generating Capacity installed in underground Power House. Two of these units will be fixed speed machines and the other two will be variable speed machines to absorb intermittent Solar/ Wind Power, for efficient integration of renewable power into the grid.
The coordinates of Upper Dam site are 23°12'47"N and 86°04'20"E. Likewise, coordinates of the lower Dam site are 23°11'49"N and 86°04'13"E. Reference Topo-sheet for the project is No.73I/4/ NW of Survey of India.
The Project site is approachable by a motorable road taking off from Balarampur - Baghmundi state highway. The nearest rail head is located at Barabhum (Balarampur) and nearest airport is located at Ranchi. The nearest ports are Haldia and Kolkata.
The State Planning Board, Govt. of WB has accorded in-principle approval to the project. Cabinet Approval obtained from Govt. of WB in its meeting held on 08 May 2017.
CEA has accorded Concurrence to the DPR of Turga Pumped Storage Project vide letter no: 2/WB/22/CEA/2013-PAC/713-745 dated 05 October 2016.
Pre-construction activity started from October 2016 by Local Consultant, WAPCOS Ltd.
The total land required for the Project is 292.0 ha of which 234.0 ha is forest land. WBSEDCL has arranged and mutated the entire 234 Ha of Non-Forest Compensatory Afforestation land in favour of State Forest Department for raising plantation.
'In-Principle' approval of Minutes of Discussions (MoD) with estimated Project cost of Rs. 6921.90 Crore has been accorded in Cabinet Mention, Govt. of West Bengal on September 2018.
Loan Agreement (for 1st Tranche Loan) signed on 02 November 2018 between Govt. of India and JICA for implementation of the Project.
J-POWER, Japan has been engaged as Foreign Consultant for providing Project Management Consultancy (PMC) Services of the Project.