175 MW Solar Project Commissioned by Mahindra Susten in Bikaner

Adding to the installed capacity of Rajasthan, the state with highest solar irradiance in India, Mahindra Susten has commissioned a portion of its solar project at Kolayat in Bikaner district. Mahindra has commenced the first portion of a 175 MW (AC) out of the total 250 MW solar project.

Mahindra has been developing the solar power project since 2010 over a space of 900 acres. The project was awarded to Mahindra Susten under Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) 1200 MW Tranche IV. Mahindra Susten is the renewables arm of Mahindra Group.

As per the officials of Mahindra Susten, engineering, procurement, and construction work for the development of the project was carried out within the company. Mahindra Teqo, another undertaking of Mahindra Group, is accorded responsibility of operation and maintenance services for the solar plant.

As per the details of the project, the electricity generated at the solar plant will be supplied to SECI for a period of 25 years. The tariff is already fixed at Rs 2.54 per Kilowatt per hour.

A Novel Project

According to Mahindra Susten, the project has employed bifacial modules that have amplified energy yield and also reduced land requirements. Mahindra has also deployed water-free robots to clean the solar panels which itself is being claimed as a novelty brought to the solar industry. It is being claimed that it’s the first solar project of the kind that uses bifacial module technology. Mahindra says that it has first deployed a prototype at some of its sites to evaluate the advantages of bifacial technology before employing it at a massive scale at this project.

The entire project will be connected to the interstate transmission system. The Project has 220 KV Substation and 19.5 Km transmission line. Upto the commissioning of Phase-1 of the project, one million safe man hours has been achieved. Also, 175 MW was charged in a single day through the SCADA system.

Mahindra Susten has 11 projects in India and this is the company’s 4th solar power project in Rajasthan. The company maintains a total IPP portfolio of 1137 MW. Projects worth 75 MW are still under execution.

Rajasthan has the highest installed capacity of solar power which is nearing 8000 MW, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Data. It has left behind Gujarat and Karnataka by developing solar projects more than 10GW by the end of January, 2022. The share of Rajasthan alone in India’s total solar power capacity is in excess of 20 per cent.