APM Terminals offers logistics for solar energy in India’s hinterland

APM Terminals’ (APMT) Inland Services has started to help set up solar power plants in deep pockets of India by offering end-to-end solutions for major solar projects.

The company’s solutions include receiving cargo at the sea-port, facilitating customs inspection and clearance, multi-modal transportation to reach isolated areas and destuffing at the site.

Ajit Venkataraman, managing director of APMT Inland Services South Asia, said: “We realised that the solar sector needed a trusted logistics partner capable of understanding and addressing business complexities.

“We then developed tailor-made solutions that relieved the customer from hassle, technicalities and legalities.”

APMT uses special equipment to make the destuffing of solar panels, which was once a “delicate and tedious” process, much easier and offers more control, reliability and customisation.

To meet the country’s goal to have 100 GW of solar energy capacity by 2022, India aims to get four times the current installed solar capacity.

At present, India imports 80% of its solar panels mostly from China and in order to reduce costs and make deadlines, it is crucial to guarantee smooth transportation across all modes.

Venkataraman said: “It is about reaching the destination, especially when there are no or bad roads. For instance, one of the recent installation sites is in Rajasthan across the Thar desert.”

Prior to APMT’s initiative, solar operators had to work on smaller projects and coordinate with multiple stakeholders and, according to APMT, it was often difficult to find a reliable one-stop solution to take care of the entire requirement.

To date, APMT has handled more than 15 large projects from most of the leading solar players, covering over 10,500 acres of land.