SJVN Suffers Setback At 15 MW Nangal Pond Floating Solar Project

The 15 MW Nangal pond project in Himachal Pradesh, being developed by SJVN, and considered the largest floating solar project under construction in North India, has suffered a setback. Reports confirm that the installation work at the plant has suffered due to damage caused to modules already installed by weather related phenomenon.

The project, taken up by SJVN after virtually everyone gave up on it or refused to bid within the mandated Rs 3.41/kW ceiling, was won with a bid of Rs 3.26 by SJVN. But any hope the organisation might have had of finally seeing it commissioned by August this year as planned, would have been hit by this latest setback.

As we had written earlier after a storm damaged installations at Omkareshwar earlier this month, floating solar plants are considered challenging for good reason, and need to be approached with due care, to ensure they deliver on their promise.

For SJVN, the financial impact of the damage caused for now will probably be minimal, though it might be forced to relook the installation process as well as materials used carefully, to ensure the August date for inauguration does not get missed by much.

This particular project had received over 12 extensions from SECI, before SJVN finally got it. In its home state of Himachal Pradesh, its a bit of a prestige project as well, with the Prime Minister himself inaugurating the beginning of work on it in March this year.