Odisha has power to generate 200 GW solar energy

ODISHA has the potential and resources to generate more than 200 gigawatt (GW) solar energy from different fields including 138 GW from ground-mounted and 33.5 GW from floating resources.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @Bhubaneswar

This was informed by the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology (IFOREST) on Monday. Highlighting the statistics during the Odisha Solar Investor Conclave here, the organisation said solar power currently accounts for 21 per cent of the state's total 2,938 MW renewable energy capacity. This includes 508 MW of ground-mounted, 58 MW of rooftop and 42 MW of off-grid solar capacity.

However, Odisha has vast solar energy potential aggregating to over 200 GW across deployment technologies, it stated adding, the state is blessed with abundant solar resources with over 300 days of uninterrupted sunshine and average solar radiation of about 5.3 kWh per square metre.