Project

600 MW Floating Solar Project on Omkareshwar Dam, Madhya Pradesh

At a Glance

Strategic Outcomes SO1 Reduced GHG emission, SO3 Increased access to sustainable services
Start Date Q3  20-08-2020
End Date q3 30-08-2022
Funding Source Earmarked, Core
Actual Budget (USD) 0
Budget Percentage %
Actual Expenditure (USD)
Status Active
GGGI Share (USD)
Poverty and Gender Policy Markers
Name of Client (Lead/Prime implementer if GGGI is part of a consortium)
Participating Organization (Funding/donor) Denmark: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Name of consortium members, if any
Thematic Area
  • Green Cities
  • Sustainable Energy
  • Solar Energy
  • Circular Economy
  • NDCs
GGGI Project Code : IN 27
Project Manager and Staff +
Nishant Bhardwaj

Deputy Director, Green Investment Services and COP Lead

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Project Context

India’s commitment under the Paris Agreement targets to reduce greenhouse gas emission intensity of its GDP by 33-35% below 2005 levels alongside mainstreaming renewable energy (RE) sources to about 40% of India’s power capacity by 2030.  In line with these targets, India has set for itself to mainstream 175 GW from RE sources by 2022 of which 100GW will come from solar energy. By 2030, India has set a target of 450 GW.  The total installed RE capacity in 2021 for the country is 95 GW of which solar accounts for 40 GW. Solar energy has seen the fastest development growth over the last few years with around 10 GW of new utility scale solar projects expected to be commissioned by end of 2021.

It is estimated that India will reach around 65 GW of solar capacity in the next 2 years as availability of contiguous land, right of way challenges in developing power transmission lines are key concerns which could slowdown growth.

Floating solar could become a key alternative to meet the 100 GW target with India having 18,000 sq km of water surface area that has the potential to generate 280 GW. However, despite being land neutral and lesser rite of way challenges, floating solar is still in early stage of development in India. While development costs could be higher by 15-20% from land based solar projects, robust design to capture generation efficiency gains, access to loss cost financing to offset high project risk are some of the interventions which will help such projects to be financially sustainable and commercially viable to end procurers of power.

Project description

The 600 MW Floating solar project on the Omkareshwar Dam in Madhya Pradesh, is the single largest grid-connected project on a water body till date. This project could act as  a template to enable development of solar projects on large dams/reservoirs in India.

The project will increase the use of renewable energy in the power supply mix in the state of Madhya Pradesh and reduce the carbon emission by approximately 1.20 million tons per annum by replacing some of the existing thermal generation. The project will also create a bankable structure for implementation such large utility scale floating solar projects which will foster development of similar projects in the country.  

Once operationalized the project will be able to mitigate 1.2 million tons of CO2 per annum, contribute to over 5 thousand green jobs and generate electricity for over 5 lakh houses.