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The Canal Solar Power Project is a project launched in Gujarat, India, to use the 19,000 km (12,000 mi) long network of Narmada canals across the state for setting up solar panels to generate electricity. It was the first ever such project in India. This project has been commissioned by SunEdison India.
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Inauguration of Pilot Project
Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat, inaugurated a 1 Megawatt (MW) pilot project on 24 April 2012. The project is situated on the Narmada branch canal near Chandrasan village of Kadi taluka in Mehsana district.
The pilot project will generate 1 MW of clean energy per year and also prevent evaporation of 9,000,000 US gallons (34,000,000 litres; 7,500,000 imperial gallons) of water annually from the canal. The project virtually eliminates the requirement to acquire vast tracts of land and limits evaporation of water from the 750 metres (2,460 ft) long canal. tackling two challenges simultaneously by providing energy and water security.
Engineering and construction
The engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project was awarded to SunEdison at a cost of ₹177.1 million (US$2.6 million). The pilot project was developed on a 750-meter stretch of the canal by Gujarat State Electricity Corporation (GSECL) with support from Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd. (SSNNL), which owns and maintains the canal network.
The cost per megawatt of solar power, in this case, was much less than regular solar power plants, as the two banks of the canal will be used to cover the canal by installing solar power panel and the government did not have to spend much on creating basic infrastructure, including land acquisition .
Gujarat has about 458 km (285 mi) of open main canal, while the total canal length, including sub-branches, is about 19,000 km (12,000 mi) at present. When completed, the SSNNL's canal network will be about 85,000 km (53,000 mi) long.
Assuming a utilization of only 10% of the existing canal network of 19,000 kilometres (12,000 mi), it is estimated that 2,200 MW of solar power generating capacity can be installed by covering the canals with solar panels.
This also implies that 11,000 acres (45 km2) of land can be potentially conserved along with about 20 billion liters of water saved per year.
Praise for the project
Then Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah praised Gujarat's Canal Solar Power Project saying,
Abdullah said Damodar Valley Corporation, which has over 2,000 km (1,200 mi) of canals, will follow Gujarat's lead and mount solar panels that can generate up to 1,000 MW.