The single largest floating solar power project of 3 MW of Andhra Pradesh Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department in Vizag is expected to be operational by May.
Once operational, there will be some relief to power utilities reeling under the present power crisis.
The project worth Rs 14.03 crore is being built over the surface water of the Meghadrigedda reservoir of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) drinking water source.
ReNew Power is executing the project. The annual generation savings for GVMC will be 42 lakh units of around Rs 2.94 crore. The offset of carbon dioxide emissions per year would be 3,960 tonnes.
ReNew Power said that this plant even curbs the evaporation of gallons of water from the reservoir, especially in summer. An advanced UK design anchoring technology has been used in the project to adjust the panels to the water level variation automatically.
The assistant engineer of GVMC, Rama Naidu, said that the project works started in 2019 and might be completed by May.
He said that due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, the project was delayed for two years. It is the largest floating solar project in the state over a water body within the municipal limits.
He added that the company has a similar 2 MW project over Mudasarlova reservoir. This project saves 5 acres of land due to solar panels installation on water.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been funding the entire project under the Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund.
According to the Andhra Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation, floating solar panel is an emerging technology trend, having potential in water body areas.
According to some estimates, around 300 GW of energy can be generated through proper utilisation of only 10-15% of India’s water resources through the floating solar power system.