With India’s largest floating solar plant, Andhra Pradesh makes its mark on the world stage

Now that the state-run NTPC has commissioned the country’s largest floating solar power plant on the Simhadri coal-fired power station reservoir in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh will have India’s largest floating solar power plant available.

Since floating solar power projects do not require large swaths of non-forest, non-farming land, they are considered a game-changer in India’s effort to build 450 Gigawatts of renewable energy capacity. In addition to reducing temperature-related losses, floating solar reduces evaporation rates and maintenance costs because they float on water.

NTPC has installed a solar system spanning 75 acres over the Simhadri reservoir. Using more than a lakh solar PV modules, the project will provide electricity for 7,000 homes. The initiative is expected to save 46,000 tonnes of CO2 and 1,364 million litres of water each year, enough to meet the needs of 6,700 homes for one year.

As part of its goal to go green by 2032, the coalburning company will build a 60-gigawatt wind farm. Additionally, the project is the first under the power ministry’s 2018 ‘flexibility programme,’ which can deliver power from any of their sources as long as it is efficient, reducing discoms’ costs.

NTPC is also constructing a 100 MW floating solar power plant in Tamil Nadu on the reservoir of its Ramagundam thermal power plant. With NHPC’s help, the Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Ltd has investigated, planned, and built a total of 500 MW of floating solar power projects on the state’s reservoirs.

GAIL TO VENTURE INTO HYDROGEN PRODUCTION

With its business evolving beyond natural gas to align with global energy transition, India’s largest gas company GAIL will expand hydrogen generation and scale up its renewable energy portfolio through acquisitions.

Manoj Jain, Chairman and Managing Director of GAIL, noted that as part of an effort to embrace cleaner forms of energy, GAIL will build pipeline infrastructure to connect consumption centres to gas sources and also expand its renewable energy portfolio.

The global energy sector is undergoing a paradigm shift as the world moves toward a sustainable energy future, he said in the company’s latest annual report.

In order to achieve a cleaner primary energy mix for India, the government is emphasizing the expansion of the natural gas sector along with the growth of renewable power sources. As an integrated energy major, GAIL is aligned with this vision, he said.

According to him, the firm is laying around 6,000 kilometers of pipeline, including one from Mumbai to Jharsuduga in Odisha via Nagpur. Currently, it has a natural gas pipeline network of around 13,700 km.

Hydrogen is a clean fuel that, when burned in a fuel cell, only produces water. Several countries are working on hydrogen production from domestic sources such as natural gas, nuclear power, biomass, and renewable electricity sources such as solar and wind.

Companies such as Reliance Industries, Indian Oil Corporation, and NTPC have announced ambitious plans to generate hydrogen in India. GAIL has now been added to that list.

GAIL has partnered with the state-run power equipment maker BHEL in its renewable energy venture. The tie-up aims to take advantage of the strengths of both companies. The project developer will be GAIL, while BHEL will be the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor.

With a market share of 75 per cent in transmission and 50 per cent in energy trading, GAIL’s move is seen as part of the government’s plan to increase the share of gas in the energy mix in India to 15 per cent by 2030 from the current 6.2 per cent.

INDIA CROSSES THE 100 GW MARK IN RENEWABLE ENERGY

Indian efforts in renewable energy have yielded results, with the country’s installed renewable energy capacity crossing the 100 gigawatts (GW) milestone.

With 383.73 GW of total installed power generation capacity, this issue assumes significance. Although India has resisted declaring a net-zero emission goal and calling out nations for their carbon neutral announcements, its green energy trajectory has been on an upward trend.

“India is currently ranked 4th in terms of installed RE capacity, 5th in solar and 4th in wind power,” the power ministry said in a statement.

As India’s electricity demand grows, investors’ interest continues unabated in the country’s green economy. The largest clean energy programme in the world is being run by India. India’s push for green energy sources was reaffirmed on 27 July when solar and wind generation reached an all-time high of 43.1GW.

This is another milestone in the history of India’s energy sector. Currently, we have 1,00,000 Gigawatts of installed renewable energy (excluding large hydroelectric). Our country will continue to lead in energy transition under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said union minister for power and renewable energy, Raj Kumar Singh.

India has been increasing its green portfolio despite emitting one-third of its per capita emissions as compared to the world average. Among the nation’s Nationally Determined Contributions, India has met its targets for generating electricity from non-fossil fuels and reducing carbon emissions.

There are currently 100 GW installed, 50 GW under construction, and 27 GW under the tender. The country has also increased its ambition to achieve 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030. If large hydropower is included, installed capacity increases to 146 GW, according to the statement.

Earlier this year, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that extreme weather events would impact lives, livelihoods and businesses in India and South Asia.

To reduce pollution and facilitate COP-21 commitments, India has been working on several measures, including clean electricity, ethanol blending with fossil fuels, green mobility, battery storage, and green hydrogen.

As part of its commitments to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which 195 countries adopted in 2015, India plans to reduce its carbon footprint by 33-35 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 and meet 40 per cent of its electricity needs from non-fossil fuel sources by then.

POWER SECTOR GETS FUEL FROM COAL INDIA AT 166 MT

The offtake of coal to power plants jumped sharply to 166.3 MT from April-July as the country’s power consumption approached pre-pandemic levels.

In July, CIL sold 39 metric tons of coal to the power sector, compared with 33.3 metric tons a year ago.

CIL posted the highest coal off-take, production, and Over Burden Removal (OBR) for July of any year since its inception 46 years ago, increasing by 16.7 per cent, 14.1 per cent, and 3.6 per cent, respectively.

Compared to the year-ago period, the company’s total coal off-take also increased by 46.7 MT in the first four months of the current fiscal year. The total volume of coal supplied in April-July was 210.8 MT, up from 164 MT a year ago.

Total supplies at 50.5 MT increased by 7.2 MT in a month. Compared to the off-take of 43.3 MT in July’20, the increase is 16.7 per cent. The coal supply of CIL accounted for about three-fourths of the country’s total coal-based power generation in July, which was 82.119 billion units.

In July, the state-owned company produced 42.6 MT, compared to 37.3 MT last year. As a result of the double-digit growth in July, the company’s progressive production growth reached 5.2 per cent at the end of the month.

In the April-July period of the previous fiscal year, CIL produced 166.6 metric tons of coal, compared with 158.4 metric tons. About 80 per cent of the coal produced domestically comes from CIL.