India’s largest floating solar power project was commissioned on July 1, 2022, by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) at Ramagundam in Telangana’s Peddpalli district.
Floating Solar Panels
Floating solar panels are photovoltaic (PV) modules that float on top of a water body such as water reservoirs, lakes, and other suitable calm water bodies. Floating farms do not require land to be acquired for the installation of photovoltaic panels. It combines marine and renewable energy technologies.
A floating solar power panel comprises of solar module, anti-rust material, vertical and horizontal frames, buoyancy body, inspection footrest, and module mount assembly. The floating body is made from polyethylene which has the capacity to hold 2.5 times the weight. The floating structure is usually made from magnesium alloy coating as it is highly corrosion resistant.
They are more efficient as the presence of water underneath helps them to keep cool. They also reduce water evaporation and help in saving more water for hydropower generation.
NTPC-Ramagundam Floating Solar Power Plant
The 100 MW NTPC-Ramagundam floating solar power plant has been constructed at a cost of 423 crores through its contract with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC). The project is spread over 500 acres of Ramagundam reservoir which is 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 floating platform comprises of an inverter, a transformer, and a high-tension circuit breaker. The solar modules are placed on floaters manufactured with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) material. The HDPE material helps in keeping the panels floating irrespective of the water level fluctuations in the reservoir. The entire floating system is being anchored through a special high modulus polyethylene (HMPE) rope used to secure the overall floating arrangement to the dead weights placed in the balancing reservoir bed.
Evacuation of the power to the existing switch yard is done through 33 kilowatt (KW) underground cables. The distinctive feature of this project is that all the electrical equipment, including the inverter, transformer, high tension panel, and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCDA), are also on floating ferrocement platforms.
The main advantage of this solar floating power plant is minimum land requirement, mostly for associated evacuation arrangements. The available land could be put to better use unlike in the case of ground-mounted solar farms, which require large land surface areas. The presence of floating solar panels would help in reducing the water evaporation rate, thereby, helping in water conservation. Approximately, this would help in reducing evaporation of about 32.5 lakh cubic meters of water per year.
Floating solar panels are a source of clean, renewable electricity. The use of renewable energy technologies helps in decreasing the emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants into the atmosphere. The coal consumption of around 1,65,000 tonnes could be avoided per year leading to curbing of carbon dioxide emissions of 2,10,000 tonnes per year. This has a positive impact on the environment as well as on human health.
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