Vikram Solar will also carry out the operation and maintenance of the project for five-year period from the date of commissioning
Vikram Solar, a leading module manufacturer and solar EPC player in India, announced that it has commissioned a 200 mega-watt (MW) solar power project for power generating organisation Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGENCO).
The plant will power around 1,50,000 homes once it is connected to the grid. The plant is located in the Anatapuramu district of Andhra Pradesh and is segregated into two blocks of 100 MW each for higher efficiency and better management.
The project is spread across an area of 1000 acres (500 acres each for 100 MW) of undulated rocky terrain. The power from the plant will be evacuated at 33 KV level in two pooling substations of 33/220 KV capacity.
Challenges in execution
Commenting on the development, Kuldeep Jain, COO – EPC, Vikram Solar, said, “At Vikram Solar, we have always been focused towards building capacities to increase our contribution in the Indian solar revolution. We faced many challenges during the execution of this project. Undulated land required boulders/rocks to be excavated from the site. Multiple and yet careful execution of blasting required to reach the desired trench depth for cable placement, and non-availability of natural earth material for back filling presented engineering challenges.”
He further said, “On the other hand, confusion surrounding goods and services rate (GST) rate applicability impacted cash flows and implementation of safeguard delayed delivery of modules. However, meticulous planning and strategy development in engineering and operations helped us in successfully completing the project with an average installation of around 4 MW per day.”
Around 8.48 lakh modules that range from 320 wp to 330 wp, were installed in the project. It is expected to produce 446 MU energy per year and will cut down 210 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions in a year.
In addition, Vikram Solar will carry out the operation and maintenance of the project for five-year period from the date of commissioning.
