Vikram Solar has announced the commissioning of a 200MW solar power project for Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGENCO) in India.

20Feb - Vikram

Image: Vikram Solar is commissioning a 200MW solar power project in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Photo: Courtesy of Vikram Solar Limited.

The plant is situated in Anatapuramu district in AP, India. For better management and higher efficiency, plant is divided into 2 blocks each of 100MW capacity and spread over 1000 acres of undulated rocky terrain.

The power from the plant is evacuated at 33KV level in 2 pooling substations of 33/220 KV capacity, which further evacuates power to 220/400 KV main substation. Once connected to the grid, the project is expected to power approximately 150,000 households across the state.

Vikram Solar EPC COO Kuldeep Jain 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. On the other hand, confusion surrounding GST rate applicability impacted cash flows, and implementation of Safeguard delayed delivery of modules.”

With a total of 8,48,680 installed modules, ranging from 320wp to 330wp, the project is expected to produce 446MU energy annually and reduce 210 metric tons of CO2 emissions in a year.

Vikram Solar will also offer operation and maintenance (O&M) services at the plant for a period of 5 years from the date of commissioning.

Jain added: 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. This is quite a proud moment for us and we hope that this would be just the beginning of a fruitful association between Vikram Solar and APGENCO.”

In January, Vikram Solar has secured an engineering procurement and construction (EPC) services contract from National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC), for a 140MW solar project in India.

The solar modules manufacturer said that the proposed project is expected to be located in Bilhaur, Kanpur, in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.