Archive · 7 Oct 2026
Tata Power and Ocean Sun Plan Floating Solar Pilot
Tata Power and a Norwegian company called Ocean Sun plan to test a new kind of floating solar power in India.
They plan to put solar panels on a floating membrane at the Mulshi reservoir in Maharashtra.
The pilot project will be about 300 kWp in size.
The companies will study how well it works, how reliable it is, and whether it can be scaled up affordably.
Ocean Sun’s design uses a thin membrane instead of the pontoons used by many floating solar systems.
The panels’ closeness to the water may help cool them, but the project will test how the system performs.
Tata Power says it will own the project assets, while Ocean Sun will provide its technology.
The pilot is intended to provide practical information for possible wider use.
India is estimated to have more than 102 GWp of floating-solar potential.
Tata Power and Norway-based Ocean Sun will test membrane-based floating solar technology in India.
The planned pilot is about 300 kWp at Tata Power’s Mulshi reservoir in Maharashtra.
The pilot will assess performance, reliability, cost competitiveness, scalability and commercial viability under Indian conditions.
Ocean Sun’s system places solar modules on a thin, hydro-elastic membrane floating directly on the water, rather than on interconnected pontoons.
India’s estimated floating-solar potential exceeds 102 GWp; Tata Power says the assets will be owned by it, not jointly with Ocean Sun.
- Who
- Tata Power and Norway-based renewable energy technology company Ocean Sun.
- What
- A planned approximately 300 kWp pilot of Ocean Sun’s membrane-based floating solar technology.
- When
- The partnership was announced on October 7, 2026; the articles do not specify when the pilot will begin.
- Where
- Tata Power’s Mulshi reservoir in Maharashtra, India.
- Why
- To evaluate the technology’s performance, reliability, cost competitiveness, scalability and commercial viability under Indian conditions.
- Pilot capacity
- Approximately 300 kWp
- Pilot location
- Mulshi reservoir, Maharashtra
- Technology
- Solar PV modules on a thin, hydro-elastic floating membrane
- Technology partner
- Ocean Sun
- Evaluation areas
- Performance, reliability, cost competitiveness, scalability and commercial viability
- Estimated floating-solar potential in India
- More than 102 GWp, according to the National Institute of Solar Energy
- Asset ownership
- Tata Power says it will own the modules and project assets; the arrangement is not joint asset ownership.
- Agreement signing
- Signed on the sidelines of the 2nd India–EFTA Prosperity Summit
