UT plans largest floating solar power plant at Sector 39 waterworks in Chandigarh

The UT Administration will lead the way in floating solar power plant generation in the country. The Administration has planned to install 4 megawatt peak (MWp) floating solar power plant at the waterworks in Sector 39.

Being a frontrunner in floating solar power adoption, the city had already commissioned north India’s largest floating solar plant with a capacity of 2.5 MWp at the Sector 39 waterworks and an additional 3 MWp floating plant had been completed and was expected to be commissioned soon. The Administration has also planned to install 1 MWp solar plant atop parking sheds at the IT Park, an extension of the solar plant already set up there.

According to officials of the Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST), the two projects will help in achieving the target to generate 15 MWp more solar power by the end of this year so as to achieve the aim of making Chandigarh a model solar city by 2030.

The society has also planned solar power plants on Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) buildings, utilising available rooftop spaces across municipal corporation and other government buildings.

Chandigarh has achieved a cumulative solar power generation capacity of 90 MWp, distributed across 10,988 sites as of now. This solar infrastructure has contributed 270.26 million units (MU) of clean energy, leading to an estimated reduction of 186,479 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions, claimed the officials.

In the financial year 2024-25 alone, 28 MWp of new solar capacity generated 25 MU of clean energy, further propelling the city’s green transition. Under the Solar City Mission, the city reached another key milestone by achieving 100 per cent solar saturation of all government residential buildings and offices as on December 31 last year.

The generation of 18.1 MWp with installation of solar panels atop 6,627 government sites is expected to produce around 23.5 MUs of solar power annually. This clean energy will not only reduce electricity costs, but result in estimated savings of Rs 12.69 crore each year.

The Administration has also successfully implemented rooftop solar power systems in government schools across the city. Of 114 schools, 108 have been identified as feasible for rooftop solar installations and power plants have been commissioned on these premises. The solar energy consumption by these schools during the previous year was 6.1 MU and the generation was 7.32 MU, resulting in surplus power. Besides, the Union Ministry of Power has included Chandigarh in the list of 34 cities to be developed as solar cities by 2030.

Chandigarh