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Cabinet approves ₹14,500-crore VGF scheme for large-scale energy storage
ਖ਼ਬਰਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਕਿਉਂ?
Why India needs 92 GWh of storage: VGF, pumped hydro and BESS explained for GS3
Cabinet clears ₹14,500-crore VGF scheme for about 92 GWh of energy storage.
Why it matters: general awareness
What you need to know
2 ਮਿੰਟ
The Union Cabinet has approved a ₹14,500-crore Viability Gap Funding scheme to develop grid-scale energy storage.
It covers pumped storage hydro plants, battery energy storage systems and alternative storage technologies, and is meant to support about 92 GWh of storage capacity across the country.
Storage helps absorb variable solar and wind power.
ਸਰੋਤ: Topper IAS editorial (PIB / The Hindu / Indian Express)
ਮੁੱਖ ਤੱਥ
Remember these
- Union Cabinet approved a ₹14,500-crore Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme for grid-scale energy storage
- Target: about 92 GWh of storage capacity across the country
- Covers pumped storage hydro plants, battery energy storage systems (BESS) and alternative storage technologies
- VGF is a capital support that makes projects financially viable when returns alone fall short
- Storage helps absorb variable solar and wind power and balance the grid
ਪ੍ਰੀਲਿਮਜ਼ · ਮੇਨਜ਼
How the exam will ask it
ਪ੍ਰੀਲਿਮਜ਼
- Viability Gap Funding offers one-time or deferred financial support to infrastructure projects that are economically justified but not financially viable on their own.
- A pumped storage hydro plant pumps water to an upper reservoir during surplus power and releases it through turbines at peak demand.
- A battery energy storage system stores electricity in electrochemical form and can supply it when solar and wind output falls.
ਮੇਨਜ਼
GS3 (Energy, Infrastructure): India's growing share of variable solar and wind power raises grid-balancing and peak-supply challenges. The VGF scheme supports pumped storage, BESS and other storage technologies to make them commercially viable, improving renewable integration and energy security. The way forward lies in timely project execution, transmission readiness, market-based tariffs for storage services and domestic manufacturing of batteries.
Quick recall
Answer before you reveal
Consider the following statements about energy storage:
- A pumped storage hydro plant stores energy by pumping water to an upper reservoir when power is surplus and releasing it through turbines at peak demand.
- A battery energy storage system stores electricity in electrochemical form.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
ਜਵਾਬ ਵੇਖੋ
ਜਵਾਬ: C — Correct: Both 1 and 2 — Both describe real storage technologies: pumped storage uses gravity and water, batteries use electrochemical reactions. • 1 only — wrong: Statement 2 is also correct, since batteries store charge chemically, so '1 only' is incomplete. • 2 only — wrong: Statement 1 is also correct, since this is exactly how pumped storage works, so '2 only' is incomplete. • Neither 1 nor 2 — wrong: Both statements are correct, so rejecting both is wrong.
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