RUMSL Tenders for 600 MW Omkareshwar Floating Project

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After a lot of discussions and waiting, the 600 MW Omkareshwar reservoir floating solar plans are moving again. The Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL) has started the process by inviting bids to develop the grid connected ‘park’, which would easily be the largest of its kind in India. Till recently, the plant was in line to be the largest in the world in fact, till Singapore’s Sunseap trumped it with its own plans for a 2.2 GW floating solar park.

RUMSL, a joint venture of the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and the Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam of the MP government, has been instrumental in giving a push to solar in the state and has built up a strong track record since its inception.

The Omkareshwar plant, like most such larger floating plants, is planned to be built in blocks of 100 MW each, spread across pre-identified locations on the reservoir. NTPC has followed the same approach for its own Ramagundam plant, being built in phases of 25 MW each.

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The last date to submit the bids is January 31, 2022, and bids will be opened on February 1.

The evacuating infrastructure for the projects will be provided by RUMSL, which will also be the PPA counterparty for the winning bidder/s.

In the past three years, the country has developed some expertise in floating solar, with both global players like Ciel et Terre and domestic firms, be it the PSU BHEL, or even contractors like Purshottam Profiles with its Floatex offering, developing enough experience and success with smaller projects. And more importantly, domestic manufacturing of key components like the specialised structures needed for these plants. However, progress on one of the largest bids handed out so far, the 150 MW floating solar plant on the Rihand Dam reservoir in Uttar Pradesh, has been slow. Success on the Omkareshwar project could therefore give a serious fillip to floating solar in the country, where experts have estimated a potential for 3 GW by 2025, and 8-10 GW by 2030.

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