Vikram Solar, an Indian module manufacturer and solar power plant developer, has commissioned 130 MW of solar PV capacity in the Indian state of Rajasthan for the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).
The project at Bhadla Solar Park forms part of the Phase-II development process, and has been conducted under the State Specific Bundling Scheme, which ‘bundles’ thermal power from the NTPC Singraui thermal power station with solar energy being installed at the Bhadla project.
Vikram Solar completed the solar installation as two 65 MW solar plants, and the firm has also signed a five-year O&M contract with the NTPC to ensure the arrays’ smooth running. In completing the project, Vikram Solar now has an installed solar portfolio in India of 275 MW.
Each 65 MW solar plant has been built of 321 acres of land and is connected to the Bhadla 220KV Pooling Station-1 via a 1.5 km double circuit transmission line. Vikram Solar installed its own 295 Wp to 320 Wp polycrystalline modules at the plants.
The commissioning for NTPC brings the corporation’s goal of 1 GW of renewable capacity installed by the end of 2017 one step closer, said NTPC chief managing director Gurdeep Singh.
Vikram Solar’s executive director EPC solar Anupam Dhiman added: “Apart from the aspect of generating clean and environmentally friendly power, the fact that such large-scale projects enable us to provide considerable employment opportunities gives us double the sense of accomplishment in the commissioning.”
Vikram Solar drew on the labor and expertise of people drawn from Bhadla, Noore ki Bhurj and Nachna – villages in and around the site – for civil, structural and electrical erection work.
Railways get 46 MW boost
Indian Railways has selected Indian clean energy developer Azure Power to install 46 MW of rooftop solar power across 11 Indian states to serve the railway network.
Conducted on behalf of Indian Railways, the Railway Energy Management Company held a tender for the solar projects, conducted under the nation’s Make in India scheme, according to Mercom Capital Group.
Azure Power won the tender with an average tariff of INR 4.63 ($0.07)/kWh, with an additional capital incentive of INR 933.5 million (approximately $14 million) upon completion.
The 46 MW will be installed thus: 20 MW awarded to the Northern Railways division, 10 MW to the Western Railways division, 10 MW to the North-Central Railways division, and 3 MW each for the North Western Railways division and the Rail Coach Factory division.
Azure Power has previous experience in developing rooftop solar PV capacity for railways, having built the first phase of a 14 MW project for the Dehli Metro Rail Corporation.
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