India’s largest floating solar farm up and running

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has commissioned the largest floating solar photovoltaic (PV) farm in India.

Located at NTPC Simhadri in Andhra Pradesh, the 25 MW floating solar PV project covers an area of 100 acres.

BHEL’s recently formed Solar Business division was in charge of design, engineering, procurement and construction of the solar project.

“BHEL has designed an innovative floating array to meet the unique requirement of anchoring the support structures without touching or loading, either the reservoir floor or the bund structure. This complex module array has been designed, for the first time in India, to withstand gusts of wind up to 180 km/hr“, the company said.

The project is expected to save valuable land resources and conserve water by reducing evaporation and providing shade to the covered area. It is also said to have a higher yield as compared to conventional ground-mounted projects due to the cooling effect.

According to BHEL, the company has the largest portfolio of floating solar PV projects in the country with more than 45 MW projects commissioned and around 107 MW under execution.