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Chandigarh: Floating solar power plant to be set up in Dhanas Lake
A floating solar power plant which will produce 500 kilowatts peak (kWp) of power is set to come up at the Dhanas Lake in Chandigarh within the next few months
A floating solar power plant which will produce 500 kilowatts peak (kWp) of power is set to come up at the Dhanas Lake within the next few months. The project was approved at a meeting of the executive committee of Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST) held on Friday by the UT finance secretary.
The power will be used by the UT forests and wildlife department for their activities. Discussing the project, CREST CEO Debendra Dalai, said, “It should take around five months to complete the project at a cost of around ₹3 crore. We also plan to use around 90 kWp to power a fountain that will be set up at the lake to attract visitors.”
Dalai added that setting up a solar power plant on a water body helps keep it cool and leads to higher efficiency. “Ordinarily, 1 kWp from a solar power plant can produce around 1,300 units of electricity, but when it is set up on a water body, it can produce around 1,400 units.”
This comes after the UT adviser had approved two new solar power plants at a cumulative capacity of 2.8 megawatts peak (MWp) at a meeting of the standing finance committee on February 4. The two projects have been approved for the Sector 39 waterworks and the Sector 42 lake parking. In addition to producing power, the Sector 39 project will prevent the evaporation of upto 382 million litres of water annually and the Sector 42 lake project will also provide shelter to the vehicles parked underneath it while generating electricity.
Currently, the city has solar power projects producing upto 48MWp of power. CREST has set a target of installing enough solar power projects to produce 75MWp of power by August 2023.
