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The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has planned to set up India’s largest floating solar power plant at Mudasarlova reservoir as part of the Smart City project.
According to TOI, the project will have a power generation capacity of 2,000 kilowatt peak (KWp), nearly 20 times the capacity of the recently-launched floating solar power plant in Kayamkulam, Kerala. Besides being environment-friendly, the project reduces demand for land and makes use of the unutilised surface area of the reservoir. The solar panels will also help in reducing evaporation from the reservoir to some extent.
Mudasarlova reservoir is situated near Arilova Health City between Kailasakonda, Kambalakonda and Simhachalam hills. About 1 million gallons per day (MGD) of drinking water is drawn from the reservoir and supplied to about 6,000 households in the city. But since it is near residential colonies, garbage is often dumped into the reservoir.
According to experts, floating solar panels have been found to be more efficient than land-based ones, but the challenge is in designing a system to make the panels withstand all weather conditions.
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