Andhra Pradesh now boasts of India’s largest floating solar power plant after state-run NTPC commissioned a 25MW project on the reservoir at its Simhadri coal-fired power station in Vishakhapatnam recently.
Floating solar power projects are seen as a game-changer because of their advantages over on-land projects, which require large contiguous tracts of non-farming, non-forest land. Floating solar plants reduce temperature-related losses due to the cooling effect of the water they float on, reduce evaporation rate of water bodies and have lower maintenance costs.
The floating solar installation covers 75 acres of the Simhadri reservoir’s surface. It will produce power from more than a lakh of solar photovoltaic modules. for lighting 7,000 households. The project will annually save 46,000 tonnes of CO2 emission and 1,364 million litres of water, which is adequate to meet the requirement of 6,700 households in a year.
The floating solar plant is part of NTPC’s plan to turn green by adding a 60 gigawatts renewable energy capacity by 2032. NTPC is also building a 100 MW floating solar power plant on the reservoir of its Ramagundam thermal power station in Tamil Nadu.
Picture Credit : Google
