India-based PV module manufacturer and EPC player Vikram Solar has commissioned a 200MW solar project on difficult terrain for the local utility in district Anatapuramu of the state of Andhra Pradesh.
The plant built for Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGENCO) will power nearly 150,000 homes once connected to the grid. It is split into two blocks of 100MW and spread across 404 hectares of undulating, rocky terrain. Power will be evacuated at 33kV level in two pooling substations of 33/220kV capacity, which will further evacuate power to 220/400kV main substation.
The project includes 848,680 modules, ranging from 320-330Wp. Vikram Solar will also carry out operation and maintenance (O&M) of the plant for a period of five years from the date of commissioning.
Kuldeep Jain, COO, EPC, Vikram Solar, said: “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 backfilling 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 4MW per day.”
Earlier this month, Vikram Solar secured the project order for a 1MW floating PV project that will be located at Ghosunda Dam, near Chittorgarh in Rajasthan, India.