Satarem to enter wind Power, waste mgmt biz

Switzerland-based Satarem AG has signed an agreement for joint venture with SA India, erstwhile promoters of Crocodile brand in India, to enter the waste management and renewable energy business along with consultancy services for cement manufacturers in the country.

The JV firm, Satarem Enterprises India, would set up its first, modern wind power system, Windsat, which would have twice the capacity of normal wind power systems while utilising the same space, said Venkatesh Sivaraman, managing director, Satarem India.

“We are planning to set up a wind power system to intially generate 50 KW of power, which could go up to 1 MW in future,” he said.

The manufacturing facility would be set up in Coimbatore and units would be established in Chennai and Bangalore in five months, with an investment of Rs 7 crore. It is waiting for approval from the Centre for Wind Energy and Technology to commence the project.

Windsat system, consisting of a new generation of wind turbines, will have towers of different modules vertically integrated and electrically connected. The tower would also be equipped with an orientation system enabling the wind turbine to align with the wind direction.

It has also initiated a study in Chennai on possibilities of converting municipal waste to energy, based on which it plans to tie up with the state government for setting up a facility to generate energy from waste.

It would initiate discussions with the state governments of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Punjab for the project after analysing the study report, which is expected to be ready by March 17, 2011, said Sivaraman.

The company expects to generate a revenue stream for the business from cement and lime production, waste tipping fees and power generation.

Satarem AG is a global cement manufacturing firm with expertise in cement, energy and heat recovery business. SA India, established in 1974, is in textile brand development, retail management and logistics business.