AP's largest floating solar PV project: NTPC Simhadri begins power generation

Visakhapatnam: NTPC Simhadri Thermal Power Plant located at Parawada near here has added yet another feather to its cap by generating 5 MW from the 25 MW floating solar PV project.

This is the largest floating solar power plant in Andhra Pradesh. This being the first of its kind developed in a raw water reservoir spread over 150 acres. The first five MW block was inaugurated by Diwakar Kaushik, head of Simhadri in the presence of senior officials. Power flow of more than 2 MW was witnessed on the first day on Wednesday.

An NTPC official said this was going to be the single largest floating solar PV project of AP once commissioned fully, the project has two solar inverters each having a capacity of 2.5 MW made through control monitoring stations and SCADA.

This prestigious project is being executed by BHEL on EPC basis for a value of Rs 110 crore. The floating PV panels are tied through marine ropes from all corners and it is considered to be an engineering marvel due to the challenges faced during design and implementation of unique anchoring and mooring system. The power plant is expected to be fully operational in June. The power generated from the project is made available to the grid.