Tata Power will set up a 300-kilowatt floating solar project at the Mulshi reservoir in Maharashtra in partnership with Norway-based renewable energy technology company Ocean Sun, according to a report by Sakal – Pune. The pilot will test a membrane-based floating solar technology under Indian conditions.
The project will be developed on Tata Power’s Mulshi reservoir and is intended to generate electricity from solar panels installed on a floating platform on the water surface. The partnership agreement between the two companies was recently announced, with the pilot being taken up on an experimental basis.
The technology being tested uses a membrane-based design developed by Ocean Sun. The supplied report does not provide details on the project’s construction schedule, the precise deployment area on the reservoir, expected annual electricity generation or the cost of the pilot.
Tata Power and Ocean Sun will assess the technology’s performance through the Mulshi installation. The stated areas of evaluation include efficiency, reliability, cost-effectiveness and scalability in Indian conditions. These tests are intended to establish how the floating system performs in a local operating environment before any decisions on wider deployment.
Floating solar projects use water surfaces for power generation rather than requiring additional land for ground-mounted solar installations. In this case, the pilot’s importance lies in testing whether the membrane-based system can operate reliably on a reservoir while maintaining the performance required for electricity generation. The supplied report does not state whether the project will affect existing reservoir operations or other activities on the water body.
The Mulshi project also brings an international technology partnership into Maharashtra’s renewable-energy infrastructure landscape. Ocean Sun is contributing its floating solar technology, while Tata Power is providing the project setting through its reservoir in the state. The partnership will allow the two companies to assess the technology’s suitability for potential expansion after the pilot evaluation.
No commercial expansion plan, commissioning date or additional project locations have been announced in the supplied information. The immediate next step is the implementation and assessment of the 300-kW pilot at Mulshi, with its performance, reliability, cost and scalability forming the basis of the evaluation.
