Floating solar power project
- Simhadri Super Thermal Power Plant of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has commissioned the 10 mw floating solar plant
- The plant is part of the 25 mw plant at Simhadri near Visakhapatnam.
Key points:
- It is the single largest floating installation in India as on date and is also considered to be an engineering marvel for its unique anchoring and mooring techniques.
- The power evacuation from this project is through dedicated cabling from the reservoir to the plant switchgear.
- Under the floating plants, the photovoltaic panels are deplooyed on the surface of water bodies.
- They are considered as viable alternative to land-based solar arrays.
Advantages of Floating solar plant:
- Do not encroach on productive land
- Remove the need to rent plots of land and prepare them
- They lie flat on the water and are cooled naturally: This improves the performance of solar photovoltaic panels by 5 to 10 per cent and saves significant costs for the plant owners.
- Reduced grid interconnection costs,
- Low algal blooming and improved water quality.
- Can utilise existing infrastructure and power grid
- Are not perceived as visually obtrusive
Important fact:
- World's largest floating 600 MW solar energy project is also coming up in India.
- The project to be constructed at Omkareshwar dam on the Narmada river in Khandwa district, Madhya Pradesh , is likely to begin power generation by 2022-23.
About National Thermal Power Corporation Limited
- NTPC Ltd. is a central Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Power.
- It was established in 1975
- It is India’s largest energy conglomerate working to accelerate power development in India.
- It aims to provide reliable power and related solutions in an economical, efficient and environment-friendly manner.
- It became a Maharatna company in May 2010.