India’s floating PV potential estimated at 102 GW

From pv magazine India

India has more than 102 GW of deployable floating solar PV potential, according to a new report from the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE). The assessment increases the country’s total assessed solar energy potential from ground-mounted and floating PV installations to 3,445 GW.

A previous NISE report estimated India’s deployable ground-mounted solar PV potential at 3,343 GW (DC).

The floating solar assessment was unveiled by Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy and Consumer Affairs Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi, who said the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is preparing a dedicated scheme to accelerate floating solar deployment across the country.

NISE applied a series of screening criteria to identify suitable water bodies for floating solar development. The assessment considered hydro-lake water bodies with a minimum area of 10 hectares, excluding smaller sites deemed unsuitable for utility-scale projects. Additional criteria included year-round water availability, water depths of 3 m to 30 m, minimum global horizontal irradiation (GHI) of 4.5 kWh/m²/day, and locations within 10 km of both road networks and electrical substations.

For the analysis, NISE assumed the use of 545 W solar modules with 21% efficiency installed at a 5-degree tilt angle. Under these assumptions, the institute estimated that 0.019 km² of water surface area is required to deploy 1 MW of floating solar capacity.

To reduce ecological impacts and preserve competing uses such as fisheries, the assessment limits floating solar installations to a maximum of 20% of the surface area of each eligible water body.

Of the 10,725.99 km² of mapped water body area across India, NISE identified 4,546.01 km² as suitable for floating solar development. Applying the 20% utilization cap at the state level yields an effective deployment area of 1,946.24 km², corresponding to a national floating solar potential of 102.18 GW.

Maharashtra has the highest assessed floating solar potential at 16.28 GW, followed by Madhya Pradesh (14.89 GW), Karnataka (13.69 GW), Odisha (12.81 GW), and Telangana (10.72 GW).