National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) commissioned a 25 MW project in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.
Floating solar power plants are essential for India's 450 GW renewable energy capacity target due to their advantages over land projects, which need large contiguous tracts of non-farming, non-forest land. It helps to reduce the temperature losses due to the cooling effect of water, reduces the rate of water evaporation and has low maintenance costs.
The floating solar power plant of NTPC covers 75 acres on the Simhadri reservoir, Visakhapatnam. It will generate power from over one lakh solar photovoltaic (PV) modules for lighting 7,000 houses. This project will save 46,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and 1,364 million litres of water for fulfilling the needs of 6,700 households each year.
It is a part of the coal-burning behemoth's plan to turn green power by adding a capacity of 60 GW by 2032. It is the first solar project set up under the Power Ministry's 2018 flexibilisation scheme, which allows generators to supply power from any plant-based source to cut down distributor companies (discoms) costs.
NTPC is also developing a 100 MW floating solar power plant in one of its thermal power stations in Ramagundam, Tamil Nadu. Odisha's Green Energy Development Corporation Ltd collaborates with NTPC to develop a feasible floating solar power project having a 500 MW capacity in the state's reservoirs.
Also read: BHEL floats tender for 25 MW floating solar project in Andhra Pradesh
Also read: NHPC invites bids for 100 MW floating solar project in Odisha
