Suzlon gets $1.28b order from Caparo

Suzlon Energy has received an order worth $1.28 billion for supply of wind turbines aggregating to 1,000 MW to Caparo Energy (India), the Pune-headquartered company said in a statement on Friday. 

Caparo Energy, an independent power producer, plans to commission 500 MW by March 2012, and another 500 MW by March 2013 in India. 

"Price of the turbines for the first 500 MW is fixed, while the next 500 MW would have index-based price so that cost rise can be absorbed," Chief Financial Officer Robin Banerjee told ET. 

Caparo's order comes at a time when Suzlon is struggling with order inflow as global demand for wind energy continues to be muted.

Tata Power to add 100-150 MW wind power capacity per year

Ratan Tata-led Tata Power aims to have at least a 25 per cent of its power generation or around 8,000 MW from clean sources by 2017 and will invest around Rs 5,000 crore in wind-energy alone, a top company official said. "We have set ourselves a target to achieve 25 per cent of our total generation from clean sources by 2017. These will comprise wind, solar, hydro, geo-thermal and gas. In wind-power alone, we will be investing around Rs 5,000 crore," Tata Power's executive director-strategy & business development, Banmali Agrawala, said in Mumbai.

The company, which presently has a little over 200 MW of wind capacity, plans to give a strong thrust to wind-energy as "it is the most commercially viable and established form of renewable energy," he said.

The company is presently in the process of rolling-out 150 MW and an additional 750-800 MW will be added at the rate of around 100-150 MW annually through to 2017.

It costs around Rs six crore for generating 1 MW of wind-power presently, Agrawala said.

In solar, the company aims to have 300-400 MW capacity by 2017. The first steps will be taken by end-this year with the commissioning of a 3 MW plant at Mulshi in Maharashtra, he said.

Tata Power is also all set to sign a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Gujarat Government for a 25 MW plant to be commissioned by end-2011.

"This plant will be set up in Mithapur on land owned by Tata Chemicals and we hope to sign the PPA by end-this month," Agrawala said.

In geo-thermal, Tata Power is already engaged in a 240 MW project in Indonesia in a joint venture with Origin of Australia, which it plans to commission in five-years.

Tata Power and Origin hold a 47.5 per cent stake each with the balance held by a local company.

"We are eyeing another 600-700 MW in Indonesia and also other markets with a good geo-thermal potential by 2017. Apart from Indonesia which lends itself to geo-thermal, we feel there is a great potential in Africa and we plan to scout for assets there as well," Agrawala said.

It costs around $3.5 million to generate 1 MW of power (geo-thermal) and while Agrawala would not give any investment figure, going by the above, it could entail a total investment of between Rs 8,500-9,000 crore for the 600-700 MW.

"We would like to work with our partner, Origin, not only in Indonesia but also in other markets as well," he said.

For gas-based power, Tata Power has applied for gas allocation, he said, adding that the company possesses the expertise in this field and has also zeroed-in on potential sites.

"We are presently fine-tuning our plans here," he said.

Pricing of gas is still an issue and there needs to be a greater clarity on policies. Once these issues are sorted out, we will go full-steam ahead on gas," Agrawala said.

On hydro, in which the Tata Group has been present for nearly a century, the company is contemplating bidding for a clutch of projects in Himachal Pradesh, Tata Power's Executive Director-Operations, S Padmanabhan, said.

Tata Power, which now has a capacity of 447 MW in hydro, is presently engaged in constructing a 114 MW plant in Bhutan in a joint venture with the Bhutanese Government. It is also developing an 800 MW plant in Nepal in a joint venture with Norway's SN Power .

ABB invests in wind technology company

ABB, the global power and automation technology group, announced today that it has made a strategic investment in Pentalum Technologies, an Israel-based company developing advanced wind sensing technology for control and optimization of wind turbines and wind farms.

Pentalum is developing an innovative LIDAR (light detection and ranging) technology that remotely senses the wind vector in front of wind turbines in order to optimally align them to incoming wind flow. Pentalum’s system is also applicable to wind forecasting and site assessment, and is designed to significantly increase wind farm efficiency at a lower cost per site than existing measurement technologies.

The investment was made through ABB Technology Ventures, ABB’s venture capital arm, which invests in early and growth stage companies with technologies of strategic importance to the industry segments the company serves. Other participants in funding for Pentalum included Cedar Fund, which led the round; and Evergreen Venture Partners, both from Israel; and Draper Fischer Jurvetson from the US.

"Cost and complexity issues are hampering the widespread adoption of optimization systems for wind power,” said Girish Nadkarni, head of ABB Technology Ventures. "We have invested in Pentalum because we believe their technical approach will significantly improve profitability for developers and operators of this important renewable energy source.”

“Given ABB’s broad expertise and strong position with wind turbine manufacturers and wind farm developers and operators, they are a very strong partner for Pentalum,” said Sagie Tsadka, President and CEO of Pentalum. “Our wind sensing technology can significantly improve the performance of wind turbines and wind farms, and ABB can be instrumental in helping us deliver this benefit to the marketplace through their extensive customer base.”

ABB provides a wide range of products, integrated solutions and expertise that enable the efficient generation of wind power and its smooth integration into the grid. Customers include turbine manufacturers, engineering contractors, independent power producers and utilities.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 117,000 people.

Tata Power to invest around Rs 5,000 cr in wind energy by 2017

Ratan Tata-led Tata Power aims to have at least a 25 per cent of its power generation or around 8,000 MW from clean sources by 2017 and will invest around Rs 5,000 crore in wind-energy alone, a top company official said. 

"We have set ourselves a target to achieve 25 per cent of our total generation from clean sources by 2017. These will comprise wind, solar, hydro, geo-thermal and gas. In wind-power alone, we will be investing around Rs 5,000 crore," Tata Power's executive director-strategy & business development, Banmali Agrawala, said in Mumbai. 

The company, which presently has a little over 200 MW of wind capacity, plans to give a strong thrust to wind-energy as "it is the most commercially viable and established form of renewable energy," he said. 

The company is presently in the process of rolling-out 150 MW and an additional 750-800 MW will be added at the rate of around 100-150 MW annually through to 2017. 

It costs around Rs six crore for generating 1 MW of wind-power presently, Agrawala said. 

In solar, the company aims to have 300-400 MW capacity by 2017. The first steps will be taken by end-this year with the commissioning of a 3 MW plant at Mulshi in Maharashtra, he said. 

Tata Power is also all set to sign a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Gujarat Government for a 25 MW plant to be commissioned by end-2011. 

"This plant will be set up in Mithapur on land owned by Tata Chemicals and we hope to sign the PPA by end-this month," Agrawala said. 

In geo-thermal, Tata Power is already engaged in a 240 MW project in Indonesia in a joint venture with Origin of Australia, which it plans to commission in five-years. 

Tata Power and Origin hold a 47.5 per cent stake each with the balance held by a local company. 

"We are eyeing another 600-700 MW in Indonesia and also other markets with a good geo-thermal potential by 2017. Apart from Indonesia which lends itself to geo-thermal, we feel there is a great potential in Africa and we plan to scout for assets there as well," Agrawala said. 

It costs around $3.5 million to generate 1 MW of power (geo-thermal) and while Agrawala would not give any investment figure, going by the above, it could entail a total investment of between Rs 8,500-9,000 crore for the 600-700 MW. 

"We would like to work with our partner, Origin, not only in Indonesia but also in other markets as well," he said. 

For gas-based power, Tata Power has applied for gas allocation, he said, adding that the company possesses the expertise in this field and has also zeroed-in on potential sites. 

"We are presently fine-tuning our plans here," he said. 

Pricing of gas is still an issue and there needs to be a greater clarity on policies. Once these issues are sorted out, we will go full-steam ahead on gas," Agrawala said. 

On hydro, in which the Tata Group has been present for nearly a century, the company is contemplating bidding for a clutch of projects in Himachal Pradesh, Tata Power's Executive Director-Operations, S Padmanabhan, said. 

Tata Power, which now has a capacity of 447 MW in hydro, is presently engaged in constructing a 114 MW plant in Bhutan in a joint venture with the Bhutanese Government. It is also developing an 800 MW plant in Nepal in a joint venture with Norway's SN Power .

India explores off shore Wind Farms

With land acquisition and environmental clearances proving increasingly difficult for wind power projects, India is exploring the potential for offshore wind power generation.

Deepak Gupta, secretary, ministry of new and renewable energy, told FE that a study is being undertaken with the help of Chennai-based Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET) to ascertain the feasibility of setting up wind farms in India’s offshore areas.”We expect to complete the study in 2-3 years,” he said.

Apart from hurdles in acquiring 4-5 acres to generate one mega watt of wind power, environmental clearances are not easy to come by. Offshore wind power projects are in vogue in many countries, especially in Europe. Recently, offshore wind farms have cropped up in the US and China as well.

“Unit size is high for offshore wind projects. Offshore wind is the next big thing for India’s renewable energy. However, we need to map our wind intensity scientifically,” said Charu Datta Palekar, principal consultant, energy advisory services, PWC.

GE, Vestas, Areva Renewables and Suzlon are key manufacturers of turbines for offshore wind power projects. C-WET has sought inputs from leading global suppliers of offshore wind power equipment, sources said. India's offshore areas, especially on the western coast, are believed to have good potential for wind power generation.

The feasibility study will examine key parameters like wind pattern and sea-bed quality, apart from ascertaining the types of soil testing required before setting up offshore wind power farms. Considering the vulnerability of offshore areas to natural calamities like tsunamis and cyclonic storms, the suitability of material and technology for power equipment would also be studied, sources said.

Analysts do not see any technology hurdles for offshore wind farms, since leading wind power MNCs like Areva Renewables have set up typhoon-resistant offshore wind farms. Speed of wind in offshore areas, though not steady, is much better compared to on-land. Wind could meet 12% of global power demand by 2020 and up to 22% by 2030, according to a recent study by the Global Wind Energy Council and Greenpeace International. Globally, India ranks fifth in terms of installed wind power generation capacity after US, Germany, Spain and China. However, it is yet to tap offshore potential for wind power generation.