SECI to Set Up 40 MW Floating Solar Plant in Odisha

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A solar power plant with a capacity to generate 40-megawatt (MW) power will be installed at the Hirakud Dam Reservoir in Odisha’s Sambalpur district, an official said, according to media reports.

It will be set up by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), which is under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). Floating panels, mounted on a structure that floats on a waterbody, will be installed to generate 40 MW power, the official said.

Around Rs 200 crore will be spent to set up the plant, said Ananda Chandra Sahu, chief engineer of the Upper Mahanadi basin. Land acquisition will not be required and only 1 sq km area in the reservoir will be used for the purpose.

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The floating panels will also cover the water and help in reducing the evaporation loss of the reservoir, he added.

Hydro-power is also generated from the water of the multipurpose Hirakud Dam project, inaugurated in 1956, set up for flood control, irrigation, and power generation.

With regards to other renewable energy projects recently announced in Odisha, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India, revealed last month that it will set up a 50 megawatt (MW) solar power plant in the city of Sambalpur at a total cost of Rs 301.92 crore. MCL has placed a turnkey order to set-up a 50 MW solar power plant with a Chennai-based firm Hild Energy Ltd, which plans to establish this green energy project within a timeline of 10 months. This project is expected to reduce CO2 emission by 91,020 tonnes per annum and carbon offsets of around 24,824 tonnes per annum.

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A month earlier, in October, Tata Power and Tata Steel, the two flagship companies of the Tata Group, announced a partnership to develop 19.22MWp. grid-connected solar plants in Kalinganagar, a planned industrial and modern town in Odisha. The town will have Kalinganagar will have 9.12 MWp rooftop PV capacities, and floating PV will constitute 10.10 MWp.