GEDCOL to set up 500 MW floating solar power projects along with NHPC in Odisha

• At a meeting, it was also decided that GEDCOL will set up four solar parks in Sambalpur and Boudh districts with a total capacity of 272 MW

• Solar power plants with a total capacity of 474 MW have already been installed by GEDCOL and OREDA in the state

New Delhi: At a meeting held to discuss ways to ramp up renewable energy generation in Odisha, the state government has asked GEDCOL (Green Energy Development Corporation) to set up floating solar power projects, with a total capacity of 500 MW, on large reservoirs in partnership with NHPC (National Hydroelectric Power Generation Company), GEDCOL Chairman BP Sethi said on Tuesday. During the meeting, it was also decided that GEDCOL will set up four solar parks in Sambalpur and Boudh districts with a total capacity of 272 MW.

Odisha needs to produce 1,500 MW of solar power by 2022 to meet RPO: Sethi

"The state needs to produce 1,500 MW of solar power by 2022 to meet the RPO (renewable power obligation). At present, Odisha is capable of generating solar power at a competitive price of around Rs 2.71 per unit and hence, it is commercially feasible to ramp up the production," said the GEDCOL Chairman. He added that solar power plants with a total capacity of 474 MW have already been installed by GEDCOL and OREDA (Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency) in different parts of the state.

Sethi also said that OREDA has solar power projects of 460 MW in the pipeline. And GEDCOL has expedited the setting up of rooftop solar power plants with a total capacity of 19 MW and other similar ground-based solar power plants with a capacity of 8 MW.

State govt asks officials to prep roadmap for increased generation

During the meeting, Chief Secretary AK Tripathy has directed officials to prepare a roadmap for increasing solar power generation in the state on a commercial basis, a source said. Tripathy also asked GEDCOL and OREDA to adopt the latest technology to reduce the cost of production.

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