These solar plants are installed on a platforms floating on a lake, a reservoir or even under the sea. The 100 MW project in Telangana is spread over 500 acres of the Ramagundam reservoir and was constructed at a cost of Rs 423 crore
NTPC has said that its floating solar plant in Telangana, which is India’s largest such project, has become fully operational.
The Ramagundam Floating Solar PV Project in Telangana’s Ramagundam, which has a total capacity of 100 MW, became fully operational on 1 July.
But what is a floating solar plant? And what do you need to know about the project in Telangana? Let’s take a closer look.
What are they?
As per Indiatimes, the term refers to solar panels installed on a platform floating on a waterbody (typically a lake or a reservoir or even under the sea).
A floating solar plant can also be called “floating solar”, “floating photovoltaics” (FPV) or “floatovoltaics”.
However, in most cases, such platforms are constructed on waterbodies such as ponds, lakes or reservoirs, as per the report.
What are the advantages and disadvantages?
Floating solar plants can be constructed comparatively quickly compared to regular plants as they require land.
They don’t make a lot of noise either.
The water also helps to these solar plants maintain their ambient temperature, which improves efficiency and output.
However, they are slightly more expensive to construct than regular plants.
What about the Telangana project?
As per News9, the project spread over 500 acres of the Ramagundam reservoir was constructed at a cost of Rs 423 crore.
According to a statement by the Ministry of Power, the 100-MW project uses advanced technology and environment-friendly features and was built through BHEL under aEPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contract.
How does it work?
The floating solar project has been divided into 40 blocks, each having a capacity of 2.5 MW. Each block consists of one floating platform and an array of 11,200 solar modules. The solar modules have been placed on floaters manufactured with High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) material.
According to the official statement, the project is unique since all the electrical equipment is on floating ferro-cement platforms, with deadweight concrete blocks acting as anchors.
The NTPC has claimed that the 100MW project will save 2,000 million litres of water per annum, sufficient to meet the yearly water requirements of approximately 10,000 households.
The Ministry of Power has said that approximately 32.5 lakh cubic meters per year of water evaporation can be avoided at Ramagundam. “The water body underneath the solar modules helps in maintaining their ambient temperature, thereby improving their efficiency and generation. Similarly, while coal consumption of 1,65,000 tons can be avoided per year; CO 2 emission of 2,10,000 tons per year can be avoided,” the ministry added.
NTPC’s other floating solar projects
As per The Hindu, the NTPC has already commissioned 222 MW of floating solar projects with another 40 MW in the construction stage. The company has set itself the target of producing 60 GW through renewable sources by 2032, as per the report.
The NTPC has installed floating solar plants on reservoirs at Kayamkulam in Kerala (92 MW) and Simhadri in Andhra Pradesh (25 MW). The world’s largest floating 600 MW solar energy project, which will span a whopping 2,000 acres, is currently under condstructed on the Omkareshwar dam in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa district
Projects at Getalsud in Jharkhand, Rihand reservoir in Uttar Pradesh, and Vaitarna in Maharashtra have also been greenlit.
The company stated in a BSE filing, “Consequent upon successful commissioning, last part capacity of 20 MW out of 100 MW Ramagundam floating solar PV project at Ramagundam, Telangana is declared on commercial operation with effect from 00:00 hours of 01.07.2022.”
The NTPC declared that its standalone installed and commercial capacity now stands at 54,769.20 MW, while its group installed and commercial capacity is 69,134.20 MW.
The state-run power giant NTPC NSE in March had made commercially operational 42.5 MW of power generation capacity at its plant Ramagundam plant. That after it commissioned 17.5 MW and 20 MW of the Ramagundam floating solar project.
Floating solar plants abroad
As per The Hindu, the first floating photovoltaic system came up in 2007 in Japan.
While US, France, Italy and Spain quickly followed, the use of such plants remained limited to research and demonstration.
The first commercial installation, though small in size, came up in California in 2008. The technology was then quickly adopted by several other countries.
The world’s largest floating solar farm is in China’s Shandong. The plant generates 320 MW per hour. China has often set up floating solar farms in flooded areas, as per the report.
In 2021, Singapore unveiled a floating solar panel farm across an area equivalent to 45 football fields. South Korea is similarly planning to build a massive floating solar farm in the province of North Jeolla. Its capacity, expected to be 1,200 MW, will be equivalent to about 0.9 per cent of the total capacity of the country’s electricity generation.
With inputs from agencies
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