Floating Solar Set To Make Jharkhand, Odisha New Hubs For Solar Parks

Jharkhand & Odisha set to feature among India's top 10 states with solar parks.

The latest data shared by Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy RK Singh claimed that the proposed floating solar parks in Jharkhand and Odisha coal-bearing states will likely make these eastern states new hubs for solar parks.

Currently, these two states are not considered renewable-rich states in India due to the low installed capacity of renewables. As per the latest data available from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Odisha has 640 MW of installed capacity for renewables. Meanwhile, Jharkhand has only 140 MW of capacity as of now. Both these states grapple with the scarcity of land for ground-mounted solar projects. Wind energy is non-start in these states due to feasibility issues. 

However, the latest data suggest that with the proposed floating solar parks in the state, these two states are likely to get a fillip and become among India’s top 10 states with the highest solar park capacities. 

The data shared by the minister said that with the three proposed floating solar parks in Jharkhand, the state will add 1089 MW of new solar energy capacities from these solar parks.

Similarly, the data said that Odisha has a total of three proposed solar parks. This includes two floating solar parks with a total capacity of 340 MW. 

Nevertheless, among the renewable-rich Indian states, Gujarat continued to take the lead with the highest 12,150 MW of total solar energy capacity. This comes from the Dholera Solar Park, NTPC RE Park, GSECL RE Park and others. On the other hand, Rajasthan took the second slot with a total capacity of 8,276 MW. The majority of the solar power in the state comes from Bhadla Solar Park, Pugal Solar Park and others. 

Others in the league included Andhra Pradesh (4200 MW), Madhya Pradesh (4180 MW), Uttar Pradesh (3730 MW). 

“Since land is under the purview of respective State Governments, as per para 4 of the scheme for “Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects” issued by the Government on 21.03.2017,the State/UT Governments are encouraged to prioritize the use of government waste/non-agricultural land. It has also been suggested to use cold and hot deserts, water surface in big reservoirs, canal bunds etc. if found suitable. The government have also launched the PM-KUSUM scheme under which farmers can set up solar panels of up to 2 MW capacity on their barren land and sell the electricity to the concerned discom,” Singh said. 

Approved solar parks in India. Source: MNRE reply in Lok Sabha