The Shajapur Solar Park is a planned 450MW photovoltaic solar plant in Shajapur District of Madhya Pradesh, India.
It will be developed by Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL), an equally-owned joint venture of state government company Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam (MPUVNL) and public sector entity Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
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Besides Shajapur Solar Park, RUMSL is implementing 550MW Agar Solar Park and 500MW Neemuch Solar Park projects in Madhya Pradesh.
An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the Shajapur project was published in October 2020.
RUMSL floated ‘Request for Proposal’ (RfP) in January 2020 for all three solar parks. It was followed by online auction for Shajapur Solar Park in January 2021.
Work Bank has provided loan for transmission infrastructure of the project, while International Finance Corporation (IFC) was associated as the transaction adviser.
Shajapur Solar Park Location and Site Details
The Shajapur Solar Park will be located in Moman Badodiya Tehsil and Shajapur Tehsil of Shajapur district. It will feature three units- Unit 6, Unit 7, and Unit 8.
Units 6 and 7 (220MW and 105MW capacities, respectively) will be located in Moman Badodiya Tehsil, while Unit 8 (125MW) will be in Shajapur Tehsil.
Units 6 and 7 will be located approximately 26km from Shajapur Town and will be accessible via State Highway 41.
Situated around 19km from the Shajapur Town, Unit 8 is accessible via a 6km long village road from Jhonkar to Hanoti.
The sites of the project were primarily used for agriculture and livestock grazing, and also feature seasonal rainfed and perennial water bodies.
The soil in the area is medium black cotton soil.
Shajapur Solar Park Components
Major Shajapur Solar Park Project components will include Solar PV Modules; Power Conditioning Unit (PCU) or Inverter; network cables; and main control room infrastructure.
The project’s solar PV modules will be based on Poly/Mono Crystalline and/or Thin Film (CdTe) technologies of different capacities. The modules will be placed onto fixed tilt and single axis tracking Module mounting structure.
A 2500kW rating inverter is proposed to be installed for the solar farm. However, the final decision will be taken by the solar power developer.
The solar project will use the cable rack method to connect the plant to 33kV outdoor air insulated substation for the solar projects.
The pooling substation will have the control rooms, while the Main Control Building will be equipped with Switchgear Room, SCADA/ Control Room, telecommunication infrastructure, Battery/ Auxiliary Room and rooms for staff, supervisor and administrative purposes among others.
Power Evacuation
There will be three 33/220kV Pooling Substations (PSS)- one each for the three units- Units 6, 7 and 8. The plants will be connected to the substations via a 33kV cable arrangement.
A 220/400kV ISTS substation of Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) in Pachora village, Agar, to evacuate the renewable power generated by the project.
Unit 6 will be interconnected to Unit 7 PSS via a 6.8km-long single circuit 220kV transmission line.
The substation of Unit 7 will be interconnected to Unit 4 of the Agar Solar Park via 220kV S/C transmission line of around 15.24km. After interconnection, a 1.23km long double circuit line will link it to the ISTS substation of PGCIL.
The Unit 8 substation will connect to ISTS through a 65.5km transmission line.
Contractor Involved
Environmental Resources Management (ERM) India, a consultancy provider, acted as a consultant to support RUMSL for the solar park. ERM prepared ESIA reports in October 2020 and May 2021.
Power Purchase Agreement
National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Renewable Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Indian Public Sector Undertaking NTPC, signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and other agreements with RUMSL, Madhya Pradesh Power Management Company (MPPMCL), and Indian Railways in November 2021.
