Taking a step towards a sustainable future, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Simhadri laid the foundation stone for its Floating Solar Power Project in Vizag. The state-owned engineering firm, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has been assigned with responsibilities to execute the project.
Touted as the country’s largest Floating Solar Power Project in making, the initiative in Vizag is estimated to cost around Rs 110 crore. Once commissioned, the power plant will be capable of supplying 25 MW per hour in proper sunlight. On Wednesday, the officials at NTPC Simhadri initiated the civil works at the Central Monitoring and Control Station near the Raw Water Reservoir for the upcoming project.
The Bhoomi pooja (laying foundation stone) ceremony was executed in the presence of Executive Director, NTPC Simhadri, B Sudharshan Babu, GM (O&M)- I/C, Shivam Srivastava, GM (Operation), S Srikrishna and officials from HR, EMD, Civil, and FES Departments as well as the BHEL executives. With the magnitude of resources and expertise investment, the authorities at NTPC Simhadri claim that the resultant structure shall be the largest Floating Solar Power Plant in the country.
NTPC Simhadri, a coal-based power plant, is a Government of India enterprise. The plant contains four independent generation units, with common ash ponds, water, and fuel sources. Each of the four units has a nameplate capacity of 500 MW. Units 1 and 2 were built in the first phase of development and were commissioned in February 2002 and August 2004, respectively. In the second phase, Units 3 and 4 were set up and commissioned in March 2011 and March 2012, respectively. Coal for NTPC Simhadri is sourced from Talcher Coal Fields, Odisha. The plant uses fresh water sourced from the Yeluru Canal as a working fluid (steam which turns the turbines). For cooling, however, it avails seawater pumped in from the Bay of Bengal.
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