Vestas Plans Strong India Presence, Launches Customized Wind Turbines

A Danish wind turbine manufacturer, Vestas Wind Systems is planning to expand its presence in India as well as design products that are customized to meet the requirements of the Indian market. Recently, the company has launched a new wind turbine generator that is appropriate for the low-wind sites in India.

Vickram Jadhav, Vice-President (sales), Vestas India says, “All the good windy sites are gone and repowering of old sites is not available. So the new sites coming up for wind power projects have a low profile of wind. The turbines we have launched are well suited for that.”

The company’s senior executives have told Business Standard, that Vestas’ products could be used for the upcoming tenders as most of it would be hybrid projects. Also, the auctions are performed through hybrid projects. This makes a particular energy output profile eligible throughout the day and all-round the year. This turbine has the potential to capture low wind pockets and thus, it is suitable for all that is in the pipeline.

Alongside, the products have been specifically designed to match the Indian climate and wind conditions, however, it could also be used for global low-wind sites across the world.

Thomas Scarinci, Senior Vice-President, Product Management, Vestas states, “We are localizing the product and this is supported by a number of investments in India. As a foundation also, we have a significant footprint in India. Our factories, research design centers, and all of that have been leveraged into bringing this product into the Indian market at this time.”

With this advancement, the company would also witness expansion in employment opportunities at its three units located in Chennai, Coimbatore, and Ahmedabad.

Vickram further adds, “We’ve taken up around 600 Mw out of this 13 Gw which was awarded (under the bidding regime) till now in the wind segment. We’ve completed most of these projects on time, except when the customer was facing some challenges. But if you see the sector as a whole, out of the 13 Gw, not more than 2 Gw has been commissioned till now. People will be a little bit more cautious and do due diligence for projects in a much better way before they go in and bid. Also, the central agencies have increased the commissioning period for wind power projects to 24-30 months from the earlier 12-18 months.”

The company is expecting that the upcoming tenders for ‘solar-wind hybrid’ power projects and newly introduced round-the-clock renewable power projects would add some momentum in the sector.