ALAPPUZHA: Power generation from the floating solar energy plant of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Kayamkulam, will begin soon. The solar power plant of 10MW capacity is ready for operations, said Anand Maruthi Malak, AGM (Solar Plant), NTPC.
“The installation of solar panels to produce 22 MW is nearing completion. The total capacity of the plant is 92MW. The work was awarded to two companies - Tata Power Solar (70 MW) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (22 MW). The 10-MW capacity unit set up by BHEL is ready for generation and the remaining 12 MW unit will be operational by April. The work undertaken by TPS will be completed by June this year and we expect full-scale production to start by July,” Anand said.
The project, which is running behind schedule, was to become operational in 2021. The work hit a stumbling block following delay in importing solar cells from China. Anand said that all issues related to import of solar panels from China have been resolved and the consignment has started arriving.
The floating solar system is being set up on the lake adjacent to NTPC’s Rajiv Gandhi Combined Cycle Power Project (RGCCPP). KSEB is expected to start purchasing power from the floating solar station at Rs 3.16 per unit soon. An agreement to this effect was signed between KSEB and NTPC a few years ago.
The project is being implemented at a cost of Rs 465 crore. A total of 2.16 lakh solar panels will be mounted on floaters. Once completed, the Kayamkulam plant will be the second-largest floating solar power project of NTPC after the 100-MW plant at Ramagundam in Telangana, officials said.
KSEB had stopped drawing power from the 359-MW naphtha-fuelled RGCCPP since 2017 due to high cost. The plant has been lying idle for the past few years after production was stopped. KSEB had stopped purchase from the plant after the price of one unit of electricity touched Rs 15.
However, the state government is giving Rs 200 crore a year to NTPC as the fixed cost prescribed by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission for running the plant as per an agreement between the state government and NTPC when the unit was set up in 1999. Later in 2020, the agreement was revised and the amount was reduced to Rs 100 crore.
NTPC has redeployed employees and started to shift its focus to floating solar energy. The company is in possession of around 1,000 acres of land, which includes water bodies suitable for setting up floating solar projects.
Highlights
Solar plant capacity: 92MW
Rs 465 cr Cost
Number of solar panels: 2.16 lakh
Unit cost as per power purchase agreement with KSEB:J16 per unit
Second largest solar plant of NTPC