Vikram Solar Commissions 200-MW APGENCO Solar Project
Vikram solar, solar module manufacturer and EPC provider, today announced the successful commissioning of a 200 MW solar power project for Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGENCO). The power generated is expected to power nearly 1,50,000 homes once connected to the grid. The plant is situated in district Anatapuramu, Andhra Pradesh.
The project according to the PV maker is segregated into 2 blocks of 100 MW each for better management and higher efficiency. The project is spread across 1000 acres (500 acres each for 100 MW) of undulated rocky terrain and a total of 8,48,680 modules, ranging from 320 wp to 330 wp were installed.
Mr. Kuldeep Jain, COO- EPC, Vikram Solar, said on the occasion, “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. 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.”
According to Vikram Solar, the project is expected to produce 446 MU energy annually and will reduce 210 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions in a year. Vikram Solar will also carry out Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of the plant for a period of 5 years from the date of commissioning.
The company earlier last week announced that it has bagged an order for setting up a 1 megawatt (MW) floating solar power project by Hindustan Zinc. The floating solar plant will be located at Ghosunda dam near Chittorgarh in Rajasthan. The project is expected to be commissioned by July 2019 and is likely to produce 1,993 MWh of electricity annually.
Bengal based Vikram Solar reportedly has a presence in 6 continents and its annual PV Module production capacity stands at 1 GW.
Picture credit: Vikram Solar