Due to a scarcity of land for ground-mounted solar plants, Odisha plans to utilize its numerous water bodies for floating solar surfaces. GRIDCO says this will boost efficiency and support the state's green energy goals to reduce carbon emissions.
Odisha's Floating Solar Initiative Amid Land Scarcity
Grid Corporation of Odisha Ltd (GRIDCO) Chief Project Manager, Mahesh Das, on Saturday stated that the state is planning to use the water bodies as floating solar surfaces. He stressed that Odisha has very limited land for ground-mounted solar power plants. Most of the land is used for agricultural and cultivation purposes, and the rest is forest or used for other things.
"Odisha has a scarcity of land... As you are aware that we have fertile lands which are primarily for cultivation purposes...18-30% of land is either forest or used for something else...So, we don't have a large passage of land for the development of ground-mounted solar power plants..."
Implementation and Advantages
He further mentioned that the solar panels will be mounted upon floaters on the water bodies to generate power. The establishment of solar power plants over the water bodies will minimise the hassle of cleaning due to the proximity of water, he said. "We are blessed with so many water bodies... There are 185 water bodies, including medium, minor, and major water reservoirs are available... We are now intending to develop those water bodies as floating solar surfaces... The concept of floating solar surfaces has been established, and it's a time-tested technology now... The water bodies will have floaters upon which solar panels will be mounted, and eventually, power will be tapped down...This generation will have good efficiency because of the proximity to water, you don't have to clean it..." he said.
Large-Scale Projects in the Pipeline
Das highlighted that the panels will be more efficient due to the cooling effect of the water bodies. A tender of at least 1000 megawatt is already floating in the Rengali reservoir, and now Odisha is planning to develop a 225 megawatt project in Upper Indravati and a 1.5 gigawatt project in Hirakud. "The second point is that efficiency is higher due to the panels' cooling effect... We have already floated a tender for the Rengali reservoir, around 1000 megawatts, for captive use. The next step will be 225 megawatt in Upper Indravati and 1.5 gigawatt in Hirakud... We will be looking at all these water bodies in a lump sum and holistic way..." he said.
Commitment to Green Energy
The GRIDCO Chief Project Manager emphasised the need to control the production of carbon dioxide and the development of green energy in the ecosystem. "We have to have a reduction in carbon dioxide, which we cannot do unless we develop our ecosystem for green energy... We are producing at least 30% of steel in Odisha, but at the same time we are producing carbon dioxide," he said. (ANI)
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