The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has completed the first phase of the 92-MW floating solar power project being set up at its Kayamkulam unit.
The work on the Solar PV Power Station was awarded to Tata Power Solar (70 MW) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (22 MW). "The installation of solar panels to produce 22 MW has been completed. The power generated will be sold to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB)," said an NTPC official on Saturday.
Electricity Minister K. Krishnankutty will inaugurate the 22-MW project on April 20 at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, the work on 70 MW is making progress and the NTPC hopes to commission the entire 92-MW in the coming months. The project was originally scheduled to be made operational in 2021. However, a delay in importing solar cells from China hit the work. Officials said the issue had been resolved and they hope to complete the project by July.
The floating solar system is being set up on the lake adjacent to the NTPC’s Rajiv Gandhi Combined Cycle Power Project (RGCCPP). The KSEB will purchase power from the floating solar station at ₹3.16 per kWh. An agreement to this effect was signed between the KSEB and the NTPC some time ago.
The project is implemented at a cost of ₹465 crore. A total of 2.16-lakh solar panels are being mounted on floaters. Once fully operational, the Kayamkulam plant will be the second-largest floating solar power project of the NTPC after the 100-MW plant at Ramagundam in Telangana.
The KSEB had stopped drawing power from the 359-MW naphtha-fuelled RGCCPP since 2017 due to the cost. It led the NTPC to shift its focus to solar energy. The company is in possession of around 1,000 acres of land, which includes waterbodies suitable for setting up floating solar plants. In recent years, it commissioned a few small solar projects at the Kayamkulam site.
