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India’s Largest Floating Solar Power Project

  • Posted By
    10Pointer
  • Categories
    Environment
  • Published
    4th Jul, 2022

Context

India's largest Floating Solar Power Project, Ramagundam Floating Solar PV Project, commissioned by NTPC, is now fully operational  in Telangana.

About Floating Solar PV Project

  • Ramagundam Floating Solar PV Project is a 100MW solar power project of NTPC, located in Ramagundam, Telangana.
  • It is endowed with advanced technology as well as environment friendly features.
  • The floating platform consists of one Inverter, Transformer, and a HT breaker. 
  • It is Constructed with financial implication of Rs. 423 crores through M/s BHEL as EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contract.
  • The project spreads over 500 acres of its reservoir.
    • Divided into 40 blocks, each having 2.5 MW.
    • Each block consists of one floating platform and an array of 11,200 solar modules.
  • The solar modules are placed on floaters manufactured with HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) material.
    • The entire floating system is being anchored through special HMPE (High Modulus Polyethylene) rope to the dead weights placed in the balancing reservoir bed.

Floating Solar Plants

  • It refers to the deployment of photovoltaic panels on the surface of water bodies. 
  • These platforms are typically moored on calmer bodies of water, such as ponds, lakes or reservoirs.
  • They are a viable alternative to land-based solar arrays with applications in India.
  • There are a large number of major reservoirs in the Southern Region which provides a huge opportunity to go for renewable energy in the floating solar method.

Benefits

  • Minimum land requirement mostly for associated evacuation arrangements. 
  • With the presence of floating solar panels, the evaporation rate from water bodies is reduced, thus helping in water conservation. 
    • Approximately 32.5 lakh cubic metres per year of water evaporation can be avoided.
  • The water body underneath the solar modules helps in maintaining their ambient temperature, thereby improving their efficiency and generation.
  • Similarly, coal consumption of 1,65,000 Tons can be avoided per year; Co2 emission of 2,10,000 tons per year can be avoided.

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