Gamesa to sell 700 MW wind turbines this year

Spanish wind turbine major Gamesa today said it is planning to sell 700-MW turbines in the country this year.

"We plan to sell here around 700 MW wind turbines by December which will include machines of 850kv and 2 MW," Gamesa Wind Turbines India, subsidiary of the Spanish company, CMD Ramesh Kymal told reporters here.

For Gamesa, India accounts for about 20% of its global sales, touching Rs 1,600 crore in 2011, the company said.

On its investment plans, Kymal said: "We continue to spend on acquiring capability to evacuate power and on R&D to meeting the growing demand from here."

The company also plans to open a new facility in Chennai, he said, adding, "we will be spending nearly Rs 400 crore here."

The company has installed and commissioned over 700 wind turbine generators within two years of setting its base in the country and currently has an installed base of 565 MW spread in Andhra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh.

"We have a portfolio of over 6,000 MW at various stages of development in India and Sri Lanka. We expect to achieve a production capacity of 1,500 MW by 2013 from the current 800 MW in these two markets," he said.

Gamesa had recently expanded its product portfolio by launching the G97 2 MW turbines specially designed for low-wind sites in the country and set up a new factory in Gujarat for manufacturing blades for G5X-850 kw and G9X-2.0 MW turbines at a cost of Rs 175 crore which is estimated to produce 390 blades by 2013.

"We expect such sites to drive a major portion of demand in the 2 MW category and have already procured orders for G97 from a number of investors. We are confident about the G97 2 MW category will enable us grow here," he said.

"With the introduction of the 2-MW turbines, we expect significant contribution of the Indian subsidiary to our worldwide sales. Besides, since demand in the European and American markets is low, we see a great potential for growth here," Kymal added.

Kymal also said that the company is targeting to cater to the growing 're-powering' market estimated to be worth 6,000 MW under which old turbines are replaced by new ones to enhance generation capability.

"We have already done five projects in Tamil Nadu for 40 MW and also looking at other regions."