New Delhi: State-run NHPC Ltd and Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Limited (GEDCOL) have signed an agreement to form a joint venture (JV) company for the development of 500 MW of floating solar power projects in Odisha. In a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges, NHPC said, "In continuation to our earlier letter dated 11.11.2021 and in compliance to Regulation 30 of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations 2015, it is to inform that Promoters Agreement has been signed on 04.01.2022 between NHPC Limited and Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Limited (GEDCOL) for formation of JV Company for development of 500 MW floating Solar Power Projects in various water reservoirs in the State of Odisha."
"The Parties hereby decide and agree to jointly establish a Company under the name of · "Odisha Solar Power Development Company Limited" or any other name as may be approved by Registrar of Companies upon the terms & conditions contained in Promoters Agreement, for implementation of 500 MW Floating Solar Power Projects in Odisha and explore further potential of installing floating solar projects after joint identification in subsequent periods in Odisha State and plan such other Solar Projects as a developer or under any other arrangement as may be decided by the JVC from time to time as per Gol directions," said NHPC.
NHPC's stake in the JV company will be 74 percent, while GEDCOL will have 26 percent. "The Company shall have, an Authorised Share Capital of Rs 500 Crore (Rupees Five Hundred Crore) divided into 50,00,00,000 (Fifty Crore) equity shares of the face value of Rs 10/ (Rupees Ten) each. The initial paid up Share Capital shall be Rs 10 Crore (Rupees Ten Crores) divided into 1,00,00,0001- (One Crore) equity shares of the face value of Rs 101- each, which shall be subscribed by the Promoters as early as possible but not later than 60 (Sixty) days of the date of incorporation of the Company," NHPC told the bourses.
Either the Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of NHPC or a functional Director of NHPC shall be the Chairman of the JV company, said NHPC. It also added that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) shall be from NHPC for "effective management."
As India's energy PSUs expand their footprints in the non-conventional energy sector, they are increasingly looking at investing in floating solar power projects, in addition to ground-mounted solar projects. One of the major reasons behind doing so is that floating solar power projects are cheaper than ground-mounted ones. For setting up 1 MW ground-mounted solar power project, five acres of land is required. Floating solar power plants are fast emerging as an alternative to conventional ground mounted PV systems in India because the latter requires land availability and acquisition. It has various benefits like conserving water through reduction of evaporation, increased generation due to cooling effect on the panels, reduced installation time and could be installed on saline water environment. The installation potential of such type of systems in India is huge because of abundance of water bodies.
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