Ciel & Terre Hands Over 10.765 MWp Floating Solar Project at Jamshedpur Plant To Tata Steel

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Tata Steel’s giant Jamshedpur works have added a small step towards becoming more sustainable with the completion of 10.75MWp Floating solar plant. Built by Ciel & Terre India, a subsidiary of the French floating solar leader, Ciel & Terre International,  the  project is India’s first floating solar installation within a steel power plant.

According to Ciel et Terre, the project utilized 19,936 Nos of its ‘Made in India’ Hydrelio® aiR 1440 floats, which were installed on industrial water body. To maximize energy production, Jinergy PV panels were installed in a 4-row configuration with pure south tilt. The plant is comprising of two segments, each with an array island capacity of 5.44 MWp, resulting in a cumulative capacity of 10.765 MWp. The Hydrelio® aiR 1440 floats are designed to withstand maximum wind speed as per IS 875 Part III, a crucial factor given the project’s location.

The Tata Steel Jamshedpur project presented unique challenges right from the start. It is an industrial water body in which the floating solar plant to be installed, Sub bottom soil is a sludge accumulation which is a difficult condition for conventional anchoring methods. The expert team at Ciel & Terre India overcame this obstacle with innovative unique Dead Weight Anchoring. Enormous concrete blocks were prepared and deployed in the water to provide stability for the floats, ensuring they remained stationary even in the presence of strong winds and waves. Material selection for such industrial areas with contaminated water is key factor to withhold the entire system for next 25 years.

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The project covered a total area of 42 acres, with over 19 acres dedicated to float placement. This equated to nearly 45% coverage of the water body, demonstrating the project’s commitment to efficient space utilization. For Ciel et Terre, the Tata Steel Jamshedpur project underscores the potential of floating solar technology to address the energy needs of industrial facilities, particularly in raw water bodies. Beyond meeting Tata Steel’s energy requirements, the project showcases the environmental and social benefits of sustainable energy generation.

Ciel & Terre India’s informs us that they already have 260MWp projects in their India portfolio. Their footprint stretches across multiple states, including Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. India MD & CEO, Deepak Ushadevi said “implementing a captive project such as this will provide the industry with competitive prices compared to the grid. The same model can be replicated for other industrial reservoirs such as thermal, fertilizers, cement, chemicals, etc. Ciel & Terre® has gained extensive expertise and strong experience in installing large-scale floating PV plants on artificial and freshwater reservoirs over the years. ”

For Tata Steel, even as floating solar remains a very small part of the renewable energy portfolio it is tapping to decarbonise operations, it remains a bright beginning nevertheless, as the experience is bound to open up a fresh avenue to seek emissions reductions for its enormous energy needs. Earlier in June this year, the company had gone with Tata Power for a 966 MW RTC renewable project that is expected to be commissioned by early 2025.

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