India Is Planning The World’s Largest Floating Solar Farm

The National Hydro Power Corporation, the state-owned power company in India, will build a floating photovoltaic project of 50 megawatts which will be the largest of its kind in continental
waters worldwide. The project, which is budgeted between € 46.9 and € 52.8 million, will be installed in lakes and reservoirs in the region of Kerala and pilot operations are scheduled for October of this year.



“There are large stretches of water bodies in Kerala which NHPC wants to harness for solar power. This floating solar power technology was developed by the Renewable Energy College and has been implemented in the city. The first plant — a pilot project — is scheduled to be commissioned in October this year. NHPC had contacted us for offering technical know-how and installation assistance for their proposed 50-mw plant,” said SP Gon Choudhury, chairman of the Renewable Energy College.

By building a floating solar farm, the Indian government has found a way to save money, since the surface of lakes and reservoirs can not be used for any other purpose. The government will pay, however, an income to the owners of the land located near the water bodies they will use. It is anticipated that the project has a total cost of 15% lower than the cost of a similar project implemented on land.

Although the floating solar panels are intended only for the Kerala region, there is the possibility of extending the project to neighboring states, since the southern regions have large water reservoirs. It is expected that the final installation will have a capacity of 50 megawatts, surpassing the Japanese installation of 1.2 megawatts installed in 2013 in Okegawa.
culled from here