- NTPC has commissioned its 25 MW floating solar power plant in Andhra Pradesh
- It is equipped with more than 100,000 solar PV modules and has a ‘unique’ anchoring design
- 10 MW of the project capacity came online in July 2021 and with remaining 15 MW having come up now, all of 25 MW is online
Government owned electricity utility NTPC Ltd has commissioned a 25 MW floating solar PV facility in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, calling it the country’s ‘largest’ such project. It has come up on the utility’s own Simhadri Thermal Power Station reservoir.
Electricity generated from the facility that uses over 100,000 solar PV modules is enough to electrify around 7,000 households. NTPC informed that its 25 MW floating solar project also uses a ‘unique’ anchoring design, spread over 75 acres of the reservoir space. It would also help save 1,364 million litres of water annually.
NTPC said this project is also the 1st solar project to be set up under the Government of India’s Flexibilization Scheme, notified in 2018.
The 25 MW floating solar power station was commissioned by Indian government’s engineering arm, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) (see BHEL Tender For 25 MW Floating Solar Project). NTPC had earlier commissioned 10 MW out of 25 MW capacity here, and is also working on a 100 MW floating PV project for the reservoir of Ramagundam Thermal Power Plant in Telangana (see India’s Largest Solar Park With 4.75 GW Capacity, Cleared).
With this project online, NTPC now has a total installed power generation capacity of 66.9 GW from 71 power stations, including renewable energy projects. As it moves ahead to meet its target of 60 GW of renewable energy by 2032, it currently has over 17 GW of capacity under construction, including 5 GW of renewable energy projects (see NTPC Targeting 60 GW Renewables Capacity By 2032).
