Meja Urja to foray into floating solar space

livemint.com:

NTPC Ltd and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam, is set to foray into floating solar projects, in line with the energy transition goals of its promoter NTPC, said Sunil Kumar, the chief executive of the Uttar Pradesh-based power generation company. In an interview, Kumar said the joint venture is committed to diversify operations to align with its evolving energy transition objectives and increasing power demand. The company has also unveiled plans to raise its thermal power generation capacity to 5.6 GW, from 1.32 GW it currently has.

“We will explore the possibility to set up a floating solar project at the Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar reservoir. It won’t require land acquisition, and displacement of people. It also reduces evaporation.

The reservoir is huge and we will be working with UP government because it is in their purview." Kumar will be drawing from his experience of building the 100 MW Ramagundam unit to set up the proposed project. Govind Ballabh Pant project. GB Pant Sagar, or Rihand Dam, located on the Rihand river, in the Sonbhadra District of UP is the second largest dam in the country by storage capacity.

Its promoter, NTPC plans to achieve 60,000 MW, or 60 GW, of renewable energy capacity by 2032. In 2022, the 100 MW Ramagundam floating solar power project was commissioned, the largest floating solar project in India. In August, NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd also emerged as the successful bidder for 80 MW floating solar project at Omkareshwar Reservoir in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh.