If even 10% of the 19,000 km-long Narmada canal network in Gujarat is used for setting up canal-top solar panels, it has the potential to produce 2,200 megawatt (MW) of solar power, save 11,000 acres of land that would otherwise be used andprevent 2,000 crore of precious water from evaporation annually, the Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, said here on Tuesday evening. Canal-top solar power equipment produces 15% more power than theplant set up on land he said while inaugurating India’s first 1 MW canal-based solar power project, commissioned on the Sanand branch canal near Chandrasan village of Mehsana district. The State Government was compelled to take up this project through a State agency, Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Ltd (GSECL), as no developer was ready to take the challenge at that time, said Mr Modi. The 1 MW plant, set up over a 750 metre-long stretch of the canal, commissioned in February, will generate 16 lakh units of clean electricity and prevent evaporation of 90 lakh litres of water from the canal annually. The length of the Narmada Main Canal, constructed under the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP), is 458 km. The Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) has so far constructed about 19,000 km long canal network, out of the 75,000 km planned for the entire project. Meanwhile, SunEdison India, which developed the canal-top project for GSECL, is promoting a new, sun-tracking solar panel technology in which the panels follow the Sun’s movement across the sky. “It costs about Rs 2 crore per MW more than the traditional technology. Our 10 MW plant in Surendranagar district has demonstrated that it produces more power,” said Mr Pashupathy Gopalan, Managing Director, SunEdison India.