A first — solar plant on canal to generate power

Shiv Kumar

In an example of innovative thinking, the state of Gujarat has installed solar panels above one of the canals transporting water from the Narmada dam. The 10-MW solar plant located between Baroda's Sama and Chhani neighbourhoods began to generate electricity from November last year and is, at present, feeding over 44,000 units of power into the state grid.

It is no mean task, considering erecting a similar solar power plant on land would require at least 20 acres and it is billed as India's first canal-top solar power plant. “The solar panels stretch across 3.5 km on the canal and will generate 16.2 million units of power every year,” says SS Rathore, Chairman and Managing Director of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL). 

The solar project didn’t come cheap. Costing $18.3 million, the project, apart from saving on land use and installing solar panels on pylons above the canal, has also reduced the evaporation of water. 

UC Jain, chief engineer of the Narmada nigam, says there are multiple benefits like reduced evaporation. Also, the presence of a water body below the solar panels helps bring down the temperature and improves their efficiency.

Its success has drawn the attention of international agencies like the United Nations. On a visit to the project site recently, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “This facility shows how one project can have multiple uses — of conserving land and using renewable.” 

Following the successful commissioning of the solar power plant, the SSNNL, which is constructing a network of canals stretching over 19,000 km, is planning to replicate the model across the canal network in Gujarat. The private sector, says Rathore, may be roped in to invest in the project. When completed, the network will stretch over 85,000 km. 

Studies are also being conducted in Maharashtra to erect solar panels on the downward slope of the Morbe dam across the Dhavari river that supplies water to Navi Mumbai. The municipal corporation will be spending Rs 162 crore on this project, which will generate 20-MW power. The project is expected to generate 32 million units of power once it is completed later this year.

Power utilities in Maharashtra and Kerala are also mulling solar power plants on lakes which generate hydro-electricity. The Punjab Government is also planning to install solar power plants across 5000-km network of canals in the coming years.