India - Suzlon and REpower to manufacture wind turbines

“There are plans to make REpower wind turbines, which will be for the export wind farm markets,” Mr Tulsi Tanti said. The wind turbines wil be export to wind energy markets such as US, Canada, Australia and Brazil.

Suzlon and REpower, if taken together, stand as the world’s third leading wind energy supplier group in terms of market share. Market share of 9.8 per cent is derived from BTM Consult ApS World Market Update 2009, ranking Suzlon with 6.4 per cent of global market share and REpower with 3.4 per cent of global market. As of December Suzlon has installed 10,000 MW and As of November, 2010, REpower has installed 5,202 MWSuzlon plans to start making REpower wind turbines at its plant in Mangalore. Suzlon owns about 91 per cent of REpower Systems AG of Germany.

“There are definite plans to make REpower wind turbines at our Mangalore unit, which will be for the export wind farm markets,” Mr Tulsi Tanti, Chairman and Managing Director, Suzlon Energy Ltd, said. Suzlon has a facility at Padubidri, near Mangalore, which makes rotor blades, nacelles (the part at the top of the tower that holds components such as gears and brakes), nacelle covers and nose cones, with a total capacity of 1,500 MW a year.

Suzlon's plan is to manufacture REpower's 2-MW wind turbines in Mangalore and export them to wind energy markets such as the US, Canada, Australia and Brazil. It will source gearboxes from Hansen's plant in Coimbatore (Suzlon is the single largest shareholder in Hansen), rotor blades from the Mangalore unit and generators and control systems from Coimbatore.

Starting manufacture of REpower turbines in India will be a major step for both Suzlon and REpower, as the two companies are looking at ways to cut costs in a highly competitive market with excess capacity. The two had signed an agreement under which Suzlon would support the latter as a sales agent in the US, Australia and New Zealand. Suzlon will use the New Mangalore port to export the turbines.

REpower has three production facilities in Germany and one in China, and makes onshore wind turbines of 2 MW and offshore wind turbines of up to 6.15 MW capacity. Suzlon and REpower together have a production capacity of 5,900 MW.

Suzlon Group, the world’s third leading wind turbine manufacturer, announced that it has crossed 15 GW (gigawatt) of cumulative installations in 25 countries worldwide, amounting to 9 per cent of the world’s total wind power installations. The cumulative power generation from the 15 GW capacity has the potential to light up more than 13 million households every year.

The Suzlon’s Group’s 15 GW of worldwide installations includes 10 GW by Suzlon Energy Limited and 5 GW by REpower Systems AG – in which Suzlon Energy Limited is a majority shareholder with a holding of over 90 per cent. It covers Group onshore and offshore wind farm installations worldwide.

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