The country’s biggest floating solar power plant, by generation capacity, till date being developed by NTPC in the reservoir of its thermal plant at Ramagundam in Peddapalli district of Telangana is set to be commissioned by May-June next. Work on the 100 megawatt plant is in the final stages of completion.
It would be one of the renewable (solar) energy plants being developed by NTPC with an installed capacity of 447MW in the Southern Region and the entire capacity would be commissioned by March 2023. Except for the 230MW ground-mounted solar power plant at Ettayapuram in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu, the remaining 217MW capacity was being planned to be commissioned by May-June this year, Regional Executive Director (South) of NTPC C.V. Anand stated in Hyderabad, on Wednesday.
The renewable energy plants that are likely to be commissioned in the next three months are 25MW floating solar plant at Simhadri thermal power plant near Visakhapatnam and 92MW floating solar plant at Kayamkulam in Kerala, besides the 100MW plant at Ramagundam. As all the thermal plants would have reservoirs, establishing floating solar plants in them was the immediate available opportunity without going for any land acquisition, the NTPC official said.
“Floating solar plants is an opportunity to generate power with low cost as land acquisition of at least five acres per megawatt of capacity involves huge fixed cost. Since there are a large number of major reservoirs in the Southern Region including in Telangana, it would be a huge opportunity to go for renewable energy in the floating solar method”, Mr. Anand explained.
On FGDs construction
On complying with the environmental protection norms by setting flu gas de-sulpherisation (FGD) plants at all thermal power plants, the NTPC official said work on the FGDs was in progress at all plans in the Southern Region and it would be completed by December 2022 deadline. He stated that the cost of establishing FGD systems was ₹0.30 per unit of generation capacity. “Although it’s quite high it has be invested for the sake better environment”, he said.
On the first phase of 2×800 MW Telangana Super Thermal Power Project (TSTPP) coming up at its existing Ramagundam plant location, Mr. Anand said it was supposed to commissioned by now but the COVID-19 pandemic had affected the plans and after re-mobilisation of labour, which was not available during the lockdown period and till a few months after it, and the work was in full swing now.
“We have plans to commission the first unit by January 2022 and the second unit two months later”, Mr. Anand said adding that the project was coming up along with FGD system as it was norm now. Replying to a question on the fate of second-phase of TSTPP of 3×800 MW capacity, he made it clear that it was not abandoned but was not given clearance yet by the corporate office. “Work on it would go on steam, as an when the clearance is given since everything is in place”, he noted.
