New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh can now boast the largest floating solar power plant in India after NTPC managed by the state assigned a 25 MW project in the reservoir at the SIMHADRI coal power plant in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.
Floating solar power projects are seen as Gamechanger in Indian searches to build 450 gw renewable energy capacity (gigawatts) due to their default advantages over onland projects, which require large tractants who are not farming, non-forest.
Floating solar power reduces losses related to temperature due to the cooling effects of water they float, reduce the level of evaporation of water and have lower maintenance costs.
The NTPC floating solar installation includes 75 hectares of SIMHADRI reservoir surfaces.
This will produce power from more than one lakh solar PV module for 7,000 household lighting.
This project will save every year 46,000 tons of CO2 emissions and 1,364 million liters of water, which are sufficient to meet the requirements of 6,700 households in a year.
The project was inaugurated by Sanjay Regional Ed (West and South) Sanjay Madan before Mohit Bhargava, Ed from the Renewable Energy Arm of the Company Re NTPC and the Head of SIMHADRI GM was shown by Kaushik.
Floating solar factory is part of the Behemoth plan that burns coal to turn green by adding 60 gigawatten renewable energy capacity in 2032.
It is also the first solar project to be regulated under the ‘Flexibilisation’ scheme of the Ministry of Power 2018 which allows the power supply generator From one of their sources, based on plant efficiency, to reduce discounted costs.
NTPC also built a 100 MW floating solar power plant at Reservoir Thermal Ramagundam Power Station in Tamil Nadu.
The Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Ltd has been tied with NHPC to explore, plan and develop commercially floating solar power projects with a total of 500 MW capacity in stages in the state reservoir.