NTPC Limited has started operations at India’s largest floating solar PV project at its Simhadri thermal station in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The project was declared open after commissioning a 15 MW floating solar project at Simhadri thermal station. With this, the total installed capacity at the facility reached 25 MW.
“In line with the Corporate Disclosure requirements, we wish to inform that consequent upon successful commissioning of 15 MW capacity, Simhadri Floating Solar PV Project at Simhadri, Andhra Pradesh is hereby declared on commercial operation w.e.f. August 21st, 2021,” the state-run producer NTPC said in the regulatory filing.
With this, the installed capacity of NTPC and NTPC Group stood at 53,475 MW and 66,900 MW, respectively, according to the filing. This solar project is notably the first of its kind to be set up under the Felxibilisation Scheme, which was brought in by the government of India in 2018. What makes this solar power installation so unique is the anchoring design as well as the sheer scale of it as it is spread over 75 acres of the reservoir.
The performance is another noteworthy factor in this project, as it has the capability to generate electricity for over 1 lakh solar PV modules. This much energy is enough to light up around 7,000 households, all the while bringing down the CO2 emissions by about 46,000 tons every year. On the subject of saving resources, this green initiative will also be saving around 1,364 million litres of water every year for as long as it is operational. This is enough water to supply around 6,700 households.
The Simhadri Station will be the first of its kind in another aspect. It will be the first to be equipped with an open-sea intake from the Bay of Bengal, which has been functional for more than 20 years. As per the company’s statement, the NTPC is planning on setting up a hydrogen-based micro-grid system on a pilot basis at Simhadri.
The NTPC is one of the country’s first energy companies to declare its energy compact go-as as part of the UN High-Level Dialogue on Energy (HLDE). The NTPC Group itself has 71 power stations under it, 29 of which are renewable energy stations.
The total installed capacity of the NTPC group is about 66,990 MW in total. The group has also set a target to install around 60 Gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by the year 2032. Currently, the company has around 17 Gigawatts of capacity under construction, of which, 5 Gigawatts are of renewable energy projects.
