Case Study
Owner
APGENCO
Project
200 MW Ground mounted
Location
Tadipatri, Ananthapuramu, Andhra Pradesh
Module Type
Polycrystalline
Connection Type
Grid connected & connected to 33 kV level in 2 Pooling substations of 33/220 kV capacity which will further evacuate power to 220/400 kV main substation.
Technical Specifications
Rated System Power
200 MW
Inverter
Solar Grid Connected Inverter
Number of Modules
848680
Coordinates
Latitude:
14.95N
Longitude: 78.06E
CO2 savings per Annum (approx.)
2,46,000 metric tonnes
Space Coverage
1000 acres
Annual Energy Yield
446 million unit (expected)
Project USP
PROJECT BRIEF DETAILS
- The 200 MW APGENCO project is the largest solar PV plant ever executed by Vikram Solar since its incorporation
- The project is located on Plot P1 & Plot 3, Village Talaricheruvu, near Tadipatri of Ananthapuramu district, Andhra Pradesh and falls under the Anatapuram-II Ultra Solar Part
- APGENCO conducted reverse bidding process & awarded 2 blocks of 100 MW each to Vikram Solar Ltd on EPC basis including design, engineering, manufacturing, testing at manufacturers works, supply, packing and forwarding, transportation, unloading, storage at site, erection & installation
- The project is spread across 1000 acres (500 acres each for 100 MW) of undulated rocky terrain, and power is evacuated at 33 KV level in 2 pooling substations of 33/220 KV capacity, which further gets evacuated to 220/400 kV main substation
- Commissioning of the large project was planned in 2 phases. First phase of 50 MW got commissioned on December 2018 & the remaining 150 MW got commissioned on February 2019, as soon as the PS-1 was made operational & grid was provided for power evacuation
- Average installation of module was of around 4 MW/day & more than 3700 columns were casted in a day
- The power generated from this project is expected to light more than 1,50,000 homes
- Vikram Solar is carrying out Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of the plant for a period of 5 years from the month of commissioning (Feb, 2019)
Challenges & Solutions
Soil & Land Strata: The land strata of the project site varied extensively. And the land is an undulated rocky terrain. So, the project team faced immense difficultly in moving the construction equipment and machineries. Removal and shifting of huge quantity of boulders/ rocks from the excavated trenches after blasting was required.
Mitigation: A planned & quick action plan was derived and the boulders were successfully removed. Temporary murram road was built to access the site for construction and moving of machineries.
Weather: Extreme weather conditions at the project site posed a challenge. The summer temperature was as high as 50°C from April to July.
Mitigation: Controlled working hours, project management schedule with utmost precision along with a dynamic work schedule allowed us to deliver the project on time. Arrangement for continuous hydration of the workers ensured better productivity.
Local Manpower: The project’s major problem lied with local unskilled manpower.
Mitigation: To quickly address this issue, we had to engage and train local workers for temporary works and hire tractors, trolleys and other small machineries locally to aid the process.
Engineering Issues: There was presence of sheet rock which required multiple blasting cycles to achieve the desired depth of cable trench. Also non-availability of natural earth material for back filling presented engineering challenges.
Mitigation: Multiple and yet careful execution of blasting was done to reach the desired trench depth for cable placement. And natural earth material was sourced from other places on time to avoid any delay in the project.
Construction Power: There was an absence of a continuous power source. But arranging for it on a quick basis was quite difficult considering the remoteness of the area.
Mitigation: We procured power from nearby for construction site and used Diesel Generator sets to get uninterrupted power. For civil works, we had to arrange meeting with local administration for arranging for canal water from nearby areas.
Planning & Execution
Total 8,48,680 solar PV modules (approx.) were installed in the 200 MW plant.
Total 10000 MT of steel were used for the mounting of the module structure.
Power is evacuated at 33 KV level in 2 pooling substations of 33/220 KV capacity, which further gets evacuated to 220/400 kV main substation.
Results
Expected Annual Energy Yield 446 million unit. The plant is also expected to reduce CO2 emissions to the tune of 2,46,000 metric tonnes annually.
