Indian state-owned power company SJVN will build and operate a new 90MW floating solar project in the Omkareshwar Floating Solar Park in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
SJVN Green Energy Limited (SGEL), the company’s renewable power subsidiary, made a successful bid for the rights to build, own and operate the project at the Omkareshwar park. The park is owned by Urja Vikas Nigam Limited, a corporation owned by the Madhya Pradesh government and the Solar Energy Corporation of India, which itself is owned by the national government.
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SGEL plans to spend around INR6.1 billion (US$73.1 million) on the project, and aims to commission the project in May 2025. The new facility will be the company’s second floating solar project in the park, with its first, another 90MW project, set to come online by the end of this financial year.
While the majority of SJVN’s total power generation portfolio is based on hydro and thermal power, the company has sought to expand its solar capacity in recent years. SJVN’s hydro and thermal capacity stood at 1.5GW and 1.3GW, respectively, in June this year, but has seen its solar capacity increase by more than seven times between the 2022 and 2023 financial years.
This week, SJVN also signed two power purchase agreements with the Punjab State Power Corporation, representing the power grid in the northern state of Punjab, for 1.2GW of new solar projects. SGEL will be responsible for building and managing the projects, and will invest US$843.4 million into the new facilities.
These announcements are the company’s latest efforts to meet its renewable targets. Earlier this year, SJVN announced plans to dramatically increase its renewable capacity, looking to add 5GW of capacity at projects in the western state of Maharashtra. This forms part of a plan to increase its total power capacity to 2030, with more than half of this set to come from solar and wind projects.
The news follows the government’s announcement that India’s total solar capacity reached 70GW as of June this year, as the country’s solar sector looks to meet the state’s target of 100GW of capacity by the end of the year.