The governing body of the city of Indore in Madhya Pradesh, India has plans to install two 50-MW floating solar farms to power a water pumping station and reduce its electricity costs, The Times of India reports.
The Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) will be looking to raise INR 5 billion (USD 70m/EUR 63.5m) through the issuance of Masala Bonds to finance the projects, which are currently in the preliminary stage. The photovoltaic (PV) plants would be installed at Jalood and Yeshwant Sagar and help lower the cost of bringing water from Jalood to the city.
The Times of India cited additional commissioner Veerbhadra Sharma as saying that floating solar was the most feasible option for this project, as building ground-mounted solar farms would require huge spaces of land. At the same time, installing the photovoltaic panels over water increases their efficiency and helps reduce evaporation in the reservoirs.
The municipal corporation expects to record monthly savings of around INR 20.5 million from using solar electricity in the first seven years. After the investment has been paid back, the monthly savings will reach INR 105.8 million.
IMC’s monthly electricity bill is around INR 170 million, according to the report.
(INR 100 = USD 1.4/EUR 1.27)