Tata Power Solar Systems Limited (TPSSL) has announced commissioning of a 101.6 MW DC floating solar power plant in Kayamkulam, Kerala touting it as India's largest such project with power to be supplied to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).
The project has a floating inverter platform with 5 MW capacity, and is anchored to the waterbed of Kerala backwaters using 134 cast pile foundations bored to a depth of 20 meters underwater that supports the Central Monitoring and Control Stations (CMCS) and 33/220 kilovolts switchyard.
According to the company, solar modules and floats were towed for 3 km on a sea-linked national waterway 15 meters deep exposing the same to high winds and gushing tides. TPSSL shared that this is one of the 1st projects of the company to be monitored and tracked by 24×7 CCTVs for added security and malfunction detections.
"The commissioning of India's first and largest floating solar project is an innovative and incremental step toward meeting India's sustainable energy goals," said CEO and MD Tata Power, Dr Praveer Sinha.
With this project complete, the company counts its total utility scale solar project portfolio as having reached 9.7 GW DC.
Back in 2019, the company had announced securing a letter of award (LOA) for a 105 MW DC floating solar project on the reservoir of NTPC in Kayamkulam district of Allappuzha in Kerala.
NTPC has separately informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) of having commissioned the remaining capacity of 35 MW out of 92 MW Kayamkulam Floating Solar PV Project with effect from June 24, 2022.