NHPC's floating solar plans in India surpass 1 GW

The floating solar plans of Indian hydropower producer NHPC Ltd (BOM:533098) are not limited to the state of Odisha and exceed 1,000 MW of combined capacity, a company executive announced.

Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, chairman and managing director Shri Singh said that NHPC intends to develop 500-MW floating solar projects in each of Odisha and Telangana. It also has plans for a 50-MW installation in Kerala.

All projects will be executed under the Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks (UMREPPs) scheme of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

At the meeting, the chairman also said the company had booked an after-tax profit of INR 30.07 billion (USD 407.6m/EUR 348.3m) on total revenue of INR 97.72 billion.

Earlier this summer it was announced that NHPC had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with public utility Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Ltd (GEDCOL) to set up a joint venture for the development of techno-commercially feasible floating solar projects in Odisha. In that state, the company has also received in-principle approval from the MNRE to build one 100-MW solar park and another one of 40 MW.

NHPC is also exploring the possibility of developing utility-scale solar projects in Telangana (293 MW), Tamil Nadu (two of 25 MW each) and Leh (50 MW), according to a news release.

By the end of the current decade, NHPC expects to have 20,000 MW of installed capacity, including that of JVs and subsidiaries.

(INR 10 = USD 0.136/EUR 0.116)

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