Gujarat is all set to become the first state in the country to generate solar power through panels mounted on a water body

Great Idea.   When Modi made the announcement, people snickered. But the western Indian state of Gujarat is all set to become the first state in the country to generate solar power through panels mounted on a water body. Installation of panels on the canal will help in doing away with the need to acquire land. Evaporation of lakhs of liters of water will be prevented since the canal will be covered. And will generate clean energy.

Generated solar power will be supplied to villages alongside the canal, which will lead to lower transmission losses and also help to reduce the evaporation of water.
Brilliant !

The solar panels are being laid atop the Narmada branch canal near Chandrasan village of Mehsana’s Kadi
taluka, around 75 km from Ahmedabad. The Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited (GSECL) will install
these solar panels for about 1 km over the Narmada Canal for generating 1 MW of solar power. The engineering,
procurement and construction contract for the project has been awarded to Sun Edison at a cost of Rs17.71
crore. In traditional solar energy plants, the solar panels are laid on the land and in this unique method, the
solar panels will be covering the canal. This project is believed to have the following uses-
1. The electricity is generated from renewable solar energy and hence it is clean and environment friendly.
2. Since the canals are covered with solar panels, there will be no explicit need to acquire lands to install the
solar project.
3. The water evaporating from the canals will be reduced as the canal will be covered.
4. The power generated will be supplied to villages alongside the canal, which will lead to lower transmission
losses. What was dismissed as an outlandish announcement by chief minister Narendra Modi is turning into
reality. Gujarat is all set to become the first state in the country to generate solar power through panels
mounted on a water body, the Narmada canal to be specific.
The Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited (GSECL) has undertaken the pilot project of 1 MW, under which
solar panels will be installed atop the Narmada canal for generating power. The solar panels would be laid on
around 1 km of the Narmada canal for generating 1 MW of solar power.
The solar panels are being installed atop the Narmada branch canal nea rChandrasan village of Mehsana’s Kadi
taluka, around 75km from Ahmedabad. “This is a unique project. Something like this has not been undertaken in
the country,” state energy minister, Saurabh Patel. Chief minister Narendra Modi had first spoken about the
plan to install solar panels atop Narmada canal at a function in Gandhinagar on October 3, but the
announcement was greeted with a lot of skepticism. But, the project is now in advanced stages.
The engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project has been awarded to Sun Edison at a
cost of Rs17.71 crore. This is slightly higher than a traditional solar plant,where panels are mounted on land,
which costs in the region of Rs14 — 15 crore for 1 MW. According to state government, the project would have
multiple and lasting benefits. “Installation of panels on the canal will help in doing away with the need to
acquire land. Evaporation of lakhs of liters of water will be prevented since the canal will be covered. And, we
will generate clean energy,” Patel said.
Another advantage of the project is that power generated will be supplied to villages alongside the canal, which
will lead to lower transmission losses. Meanwhile, officials said that work on the project is progressing well.
"The project is in advanced stages of completion. We expect to complete it in the next two to three weeks, and
start work on the next phase," Bhargav Mehta, director, Sun Edison, said.The second phase of the project
envisages solar power generation capacity of 2 MW by installing solar panels atop the Narmada canal.