NLC India Eyes 10 GW Clean Energy with Pumped Storage Push

21 Sep 2026, 08:02 by Vinay Kakkad · KalingaTV

New Delhi: State-run miner and power producer NLC India Ltd plans to build large-scale pumped storage plants in Tamil Nadu and Odisha to keep electricity supplies steady as it adds more renewable power to the grid.

The storage push is designed to tackle the intermittency of solar and wind generation as the Navratna PSU works to make clean sources account for 50 per cent of its total power basket ahead of schedule, according to a Coal Ministry statement issued on Saturday, September 19, 2026.

As reported by PTI, NLC India currently operates 1.8 GW of renewable energy. It aims to scale that figure past 10 GW by 2030, before expanding to 32.7 GW by 2047. The expansion is being run through its dedicated clean energy arm, NLCIL Renewables Ltd (NIRL).

Alongside hydro storage and green capacity additions, the public sector firm is branching out into alternative clean fuels and industrial carbon management. At Neyveli, it is setting up a 4 MW pilot plant to produce green hydrogen using solar power and a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser. The company has also teamed up with IIT Madras to work on carbon capture systems, aiming to lower industrial emissions and shield against global supply disruptions.

Its transition roadmap also reaches raw materials critical to clean technology. Domestically, NLC India has picked up composite exploration licenses for limestone and phosphorite in Chhattisgarh, as well as vanadium and titanium blocks in Telangana. Overseas, it is scouting critical mineral assets through Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL).

Administered by the Union Coal Ministry, NLC India holds an installed power generation base of 8,405 MW and runs mining operations with a capacity of 59.10 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).