VISHAKAPATNAM: The works of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation's (GVMC) prestigious floating solar power plant at Mudasarlova reservoir began on Monday. The power plant has a proposed generation capacity of 2000 kWp. The authorities have already installed the floating bases/boards in the reservoir and the solar panels will be installed by the end of this month.
Mudasarlova reservoir, situated near Arilova Health City, between lush green hills of Kambalakonda and Simhachalam, provides about one million gallons of drinking water per day to the city households. According to the GVMC officials, this floating solar power plant is an environment-friendly project that will not only produce power, but also help reduce water evaporation from the reservoir to some extent. Such initiatives will also help the civic body to cut down on electricity bills.
"We have started to set up the floating bases and solar plants are likely to be placed by the end of this month. The bases will have bed-like structure at the bottom, so that when water dries up, the panels will not get damaged. It may take two months for the completion of the project," said a GVMC source attached to the project.
Sources said that of late States such as West Bengal and Kerala have begun to adopt such technologies to utilise power from solar energy. However, the Mudasarlova project is expected to be bigger than those projects. Officials opine that the floating panels are found to be more efficient than the ones installed on the land or roofs. They also said that the solar panels could withstand all weathers.
Apart from this, the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) has also taken up the beautification work of the Mudasarlova Park. Landscaping, expansion of greenery, installation of new equipment with proper LED lightning, children's play area, walking paths, shelter zones, and drinking water facility will be 'arranged' as part of beautification works.
All you wanted to know about floating power
The floating solar power plant project at Mudasarlova reservoir in Vizag is the first of its kind in AP
The project is environment-friendly
The solar panels at the reservoir will not only produce power, but will also help in reducing evaporation of water from the reservoir to some extent.
The Rs 11 crore project has a proposed generation capacity of 2000 kWp
The floating bases/boards have already been installed at the reservoir. The solar panels will be installed by the end of this month
The bases to have bed-like structure at the bottom, so that when water dries up in the reservoir, the panels do not get damaged
The project will be operational in two months