NTPC commissions India’s largest floating solar project

NTPC Ltd, India’s largest integrated energy company has commissioned the largest floating solar PV project of 25MW on the reservoir of its Simhadri thermal station in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. This is the first solar project to be set up under the Flexibilisation Scheme, notified by the Government of India in 2018.

The floating solar installation, which has a unique anchoring design, is spread over 75 acres and has the potential to generate electricity from more than 1 lakh solar PV modules. This would help to light around 7,000 households and also ensure that at least 46,000 tons of CO2 emissions are kept at arm’s length every year during the lifespan of this project. The project would also save 1,364 million litres of water per annum, which would be adequate to meet the yearly water requirements of 6,700 households.

With a total installed capacity of 66900 MW, NTPC Group has 71 Power stations including 29 Renewable projects. NTPC has set a target to install 60 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy (RE) capacity by 2032. NTPC is also India's first energy company to declare its energy compact goals as part of the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy (HLDE). The group has over 17 GW of capacity under construction, including 5 GW of renewable energy projects.

Other power projects

NTPC has been awarded the project management consultancy (PMC) contract for setting up 900 megawatt (MW) solar projects in Cuba. It has also secured contracts in Malawi and Niger to set up 100MW and 50MW solar capacity, respectively. These are the countries after Mali (500MW) and Togo (285MW) where India’s largest power generation utility has been awarded the PMC contracts via ISA, the first treaty-based inter-government organisation headquartered in India.

NTPC is also planning to set up a hydrogen-based micro-grid system on a pilot basis at Simhadri, according to a company statement.