Floating Solar

The energy company says it will use hybrid-technology projects, round-the-clock renewables, battery storage, floating solar and green hydrogen as it attempts to wind down the 69% of its energy generation fleet based on thermal power.

Bidders have until August 5 to lodge their interest in engineering, procurement, and construction of the 50 MW grid-interactive floating solar capacity in the Kollam district. The successful bidder shall also provide comprehensive operation and maintenance of the plant for ten years.

Floating PV is a growing market, especially in Asian countries with land pressures. However, like many promising niches, it is growing faster than the standards surrounding it. With installed floating PV capacity set to double in 2021, a raft of various and sometimes competing standards are being floated, but the question remains – what is truly the best way forward?

The floating solar plant is located in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal. It is built upon a raw water pond of the Sagardighi thermal power project owned by The West Bengal Power Development Corp. Ltd (WBPDCL).

The floating solar plant, being set upon the raw water reservoir area at Ramagundam Thermal Power Plant in Telangana, is divided into 40 discrete array blocks of 2.5MW (AC) each. The module cleaning system is to be designed for each 2.5 MW network.

The 14.7 MWp project, developed for Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation (SPIC) Limited, uses an aggregate 37,632 number of 390Wp PV panels and spans an area of 15.6 hectares.

Norway’s Glint Solar and the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute have developed an algorithm that is able to automatically calculate wave heights and wind directions at potential locations for floating PV arrays. It considers the geometry of the water surface as well as 40 years of data on wind conditions.

Solar power developers have until June 15 to lodge interest for setting up the 15 MW grid-connected solar PV project in the Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh.

The Recommended Practice guide, on top of describing the most common requirements for building a floating PV array, provides a series of technical guidelines for electrical safety, anchoring and mooring issues, operation and maintenance, and specific plant design that can withstand site-specific environmental conditions.

The enlisted players will be invited to participate in the upcoming tenders for the installation of floating and ground-mounted solar power projects. April 6 is the deadline to submit applications for enlistment.