Volume: 1

Issue: 1

December 2014 - January 2015

` 25/-

Bimonthly, Chennai

A Bi-monthly Magazine of Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association

Volume: 1

Chairman
Mr. Madhusudan Khemka
Managing Director
Regen Powertech Pvt. Ltd., Chennai

Vice Chairman
Mr. Chintan Shah
President & Head, (SBD)
Suzlon Energy Limited, Pune

Issue: 1

December 2014 - January 2015

Contents

Page No.

Steve Sawyers Top 10 Predictions for the 2015 Wind Market

Wind OEM Supply Chain - Challenges

Yesheen Vibhakar, Head, SCM Operational Excellence, Suzlon Energy Limited, Pune

Supply Chain Scenario of Indian Wind Energy Industry

Honorary Secretary
Mr. Devansh Jain
Director, Inox Wind Limited, Noida

Executive Members

Key Priorities and Regulatory Interventions for Future Wind Growth 14

Ajit Pandit, Director, Idam Infrastructure Advisory Pvt Ltd

Supply Chain Challenges in Wind Turbine Industry

Hard Road to Travel for Wind Logistics in India
K.P. Chandrasekar, Assistant Vice President Logistics, ReGen Powertech Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. V.K. Krishnan

Executive Director
Leitner Shriram Mfg. Ltd., Chennai

Mr. Ajay Mehra

Director, Wind World India Limited, Mumbai

Secretary General
Mr. D.V. Giri, IWTMA, Chennai

16

A.S. Karanth, Wind Energy Consultant

Mr. Ramesh Kymal

Deputy Managing Director

RRB Energy Ltd., New Delhi

Girish Paliwal, Vice President, Wind World India Limited, Daman

Chairman & Managing Director

Gamesa Wind Turbines Pvt. Ltd., Chennai

Mr. Sarvesh Kumar

Steve Sawyer, Secretary General, Global Wind Energy Council, Brussels, Belgium

Criteria for WTG Prototype Certification and Type testing of

Prototype from the New Manufacturers Perspective

19
23

Srikaanth Sarangapani

Supply Chain Management in

Wind Turbine Manufacturing Industry in India

29

Rajanish Saxena, Assistant Vice President- Sourcing, Regen Powertech Private Limited

Know Your Wind Energy State - Gujarat - A Snapshot

35

Compiled by Mr. Nitin Raikar, Suzlon Energy Limited, Mumbai

Snippets on Wind Power

37

Sri Abhijit Kulkarni, General Manager, SKF INdia Ltd. and IWTMA Team

Photo Feature - Launch of Indian Wind Energy Alliance

39

Know Your member - INOX Wind Limited

40

Associate Director and Editor

Dr. Rishi Muni Dwivedi, IWTMA, Chennai

The views expressed in the

magazine are those of the
authors and do not necessarily
reflect those of the association,
editor or publisher.

Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association

4th Floor, Samson Tower, 403 L, Pantheon Road, Egmore
Chennai - 600 008. Tel : 044 43015773 Fax : 044 4301 6132
Email : secretarygeneral@indianwindpower.com
associatedirector@indianwindpower.com
Website : www.indianwindpower.com
(For Internal Circulation only)

From the Desk of the Chairman - IWTMA

Dear Readers,
The visit of the President of United States of America,
Mr. Barack Obama, is a momentous occasion to the
country as the Chief Guest at the 66th Republic Day
Celebration on 26th January 2015. More importantly,
the major agenda was on furthering cooperation
in Renewable Energy. Readers are aware that the
Government of India has now set a target of 60 GW
Wind Power by 2022.
The Government while sensing the laudable targets of 100 GW of Solar and 60 GW of Wind, Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy (MNRE) is organizing a two days conference and three days exhibition titled RE-Invest in New
Delhi from February 15-17, 2015. It is a matter of pride that the Honble Prime Minister of India is inaugurating the
RE-Invest on February 15, 2015 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
The wind industry is committed to meet the laudable targets Make it Happen with our support and pledge to
the Prime Ministers Make in India Campaign. The wind sector has already achieved 70% localization and fully
committed to the National Offset Policy of Government of India.
Rightly so, this issue is dedicated to Supply Chain Management, which is the backbone to this Capital Good
Industry where components are tailor made to different technologies. The technological innovation is an on-going
process and this has resulted in higher Plant Load Factors (PLF) and Capacity Utilization Factors (CUF) in operating
wind farms in low and medium wind regime.
The industry is thankful to the various ministries viz., Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Power, Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to address various opportunities and
challenges. We, in IWTMA, believe that once the land reforms are available for easy accessibility to land, ambitious
programme of PGCIL for evacuation and continuity of proactive policies of the Government will make this silent
non-polluting wind power unstoppable to achieve the energy security for the country.
Finally, on behalf of IWTMA, I wish the readers and their families a Happy Holi and a Year of Prosperity.
We encourage you to enjoy reading this issue and equally look forward to your valuable feedback.

Madhusudan Khemka
Chairman

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Steve Sawyers Top 10 Predictions

for the 2015 Wind Market
Steve Sawyer
Secretary General, Global Wind Energy Council, Brussels, Belgium
1.

2.

Increase in Competitiveness: wind power is more

9.

Increased attention to climate change will improve

and more often chosen primarily because of its

the atmospherics for wind/renewables in the run up

competitive price advantage in many markets.

to UNFCCC COP 21 in Paris, and although there will

Market design the debate heats up over new

electricity market designs which take into account the
near-zero marginal cost of wind and solar on the one
hand, and the proper valuation of flexible generation

be an agreement, it will be more of a framework,

very short on numbers, with a lack of ambition in
those. Nowhere on earth is there a realistic carbon
price, for 2015 and for some years to come.

on the other. Capacity markets are shown to

10. The Bank of England inquiry into the long-term threat

be a Trojan horse for keeping dirty old coal plants

to the economy posed by potentially huge stranded

running, and the proper valuation and quantification

assets in the proven reserves of the fossil fuel industry

of flexibility becomes the most important design

continues to fuel the shift of investment out of fossils

question.

and into renewables.

3.

6-8 MW offshore turbines start rolling out in earnest.

4.

The gap between OECD and non-OECD annual

markets continues to increase (non-OECD markets

GWECs list of top 10 markets to watch in 2015

1. China

were ~15% larger in 2013).

2. USA
5.

Co-location of wind and solar PV utility scale plants

gets underway, usually through adding ground

3. South Africa

mounted solar to an existing wind farm, and probably

4. Egypt

first in NE Brazil.
6.

Japanese

wind

to

get

some

post-Fukushima

5. Germany

momentum.
7.

E.ONs announcement of its divestiture of incumbent

generation in favor of renewables starts a wave of
similar such moves across the world.

8.

The backlash against wind and solars destruction

of the traditional utility model continues to grow in
ideologically driven energy debates in Australia, some
parts of the US and Canada, and other places with a
substantial presence of Murdoch-owned press.

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Indian Wind Power

6. India
7. Vietnam
8. Mexico
9. Ghana
10. Brazil

Wind OEM Supply Chain - Challenges

Yesheen Vibhakar
Head, SCM Operational Excellence, Suzlon Energy Limited, Pune
(This article does not intend to shed new light on the
Supply Chain Management for industry veterans, but
intends presenting the onshore wind OEM (Original
Equipment Manufacturer) Supply Chain Management in a
consolidated manner considering it as induction material
for the newly initiated. Though the focus is largely on
India, the references are from all over the world and not
confined to Suzlons Supply Chain with whom the author
is currently employed.)
Between the order taking and sales closure lies the
Supply Chain or Operations of the Value Chain. In the
wind OEM business, for most, it ends with equipment
supply (either ex works or at site) with or without BoP
(Balance of Plant). However, the supply chain work starts
well before the product is designed or the orders arrives
and can end only at the disposal of the product beyond
the products lifecycle.

Dispatch Incoming inspection Registering Material

receipt in Stores. Incoming rejects need to be replaced
to ensure production does not suffer on account of
an unbalanced BoM (Bill of Materials). For many items,
there would be Duties as well as Duty drawback
opportunities - the process and time need to account
for the same.
b. Production: This stage covers all activities between
Material Receipts in store to Shop-floor issue.
Organising Material and storage to specifications,
Kitting of material and issue to Shop-floor. There are
many components that have more than single shift
operations and the Store keeper is like the teller in
the bank. A key challenge is how to ensure that shopfloor activities do not suffer neither does the control
on Material issue get violated.

Inputs from earlier product experiences, likely future

movement in commodities, currency exchange rates and
demand-supply equations for raw materials are considered.
Dimensions, transportability, transit turbulences on the
logistics side are considered.

c. Dispatch: This stage covers all activities between

preparing material for dispatch to receipt at agreed
location, post finished good inspection, the packaging
of the component and accompanying kits, ensure
required documentation for transit, handling & storage
and installation as well as freight worthiness of the
deployed vehicle. Post dispatch, there is a probability
of issues of short supplies, damage or theft that come
in and replacement parts needs to be arranged for.
Another post dispatch key accountability is to either
the return of transport fixtures or effect its disposal.

Serial Production Phase

Post Commissioning

This phase would have three large stages: Pre-production,

Production and Dispatch. Through all this, it has to
ascertain that the contribution margin and working capital
needs are consistent with the OEM company expectations.

Fulfil
the
equipment
warranty
obligations,
OMS (Operations & Maintenance Services), spares and
consumables, component servicing. It also extends well
after the serial life of the product to ensure supply of
parts and components for the lifecycle of the product.

Design Phase
This phase is where the concept and the boundary conditions
on what is likely to follow gets largely determined.

a. Pre-production: This stage covers all activities to the

point of registering material receipt in stores. Identifies
& develops vendors, creates the required supply security
through a framework of contracts & agreements
and ensures that the equipment supply contribution
margin & working capital requirements meet the
OEM company expectations. During this period it has
to operationally ascertain the process tie up between
the stages: Order forecast Contracting - Purchase
requisition Purchase Order Vendor inspection &

The sites where wind power plants are erected are also called
wind farms, generally in multiples of 50 MW capacities.
The wind power plant consists of two key parts: The PE
(Power Evacuation) and WTG (Wind Turbine Generator)
(also referred as WEC (Wind Energy Convertor) in some
regions). The better and more accessible wind sites got
consumed in the early phase of wind energy movement
which started a couple of decades ago for India. The
sites which are less accessible/ remote or have lesser wind

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

speed are being explored today which means that far

larger blades and higher towers need be transported to
generally more difficult to reach areas. To maintain the CoE
(Cost of Energy) at attractive levels, newer models with
advanced technology need to be developed and deployed
regularly to be able to extract energy from lower wind
regimes. Further, there are changes that are effected also
within the lifespan of the model, this may be affected due
to gaining of new knowledge or tectonic changes in the
commodity equations - which means changes in the BoM
(Bill of Materials) and new challenges.
Within the challenges faced by the various OEMs to keep
the CoE attractive, which is obtained by a combination
of higher yield with relatively lower cost, the supply
chain of Indian OEMs face even deeper challenges.
Wind technology has its roots in Europe, where there is
a very strong academic and industry collaboration. India
though has made significant progress in the last two
decades, is still a long way away. Consequentially, there
is a heavy concentration of technology product suppliers
in Europe. Compounded with cost pressure; either by way
of price monopoly or price cartels and adverse currency
movements, the pressure on Indian OEMs supply chain
increases. Further, IP regimes make indigenous OEMs wary
of infringement and are faced with high cost of technology
transfer. Also, the issue of changes in technology without
adequate volumes can create a situation where the
existing development costs are not fully amortized the
need to invest in R&D for the next generation component
technology.

Key Components of WTG and the Challenges

The WTG consists of four key components: rotor, nacelle,
tower and foundation. The OEM primarily supplies
equipment for the WTG, the foundation gets cast on site.
Let us look at each of them and the challenges within it:
1. Rotors: Captures the wind
The rotor consists of blades and a hub which holds
and pitches the blades. Generally, the blades for the
rotor and hub come from different factories. Today,
universally the rotor consists of a set of three blades,
which means blades from one set may not be used for
another as they are balanced and make a set. Today
blades are becoming larger and larger. Currently, the
largest onshore rotor diameter in India being sold
is 114 meters, each blade being about 55 meter
long. However, larger ones will follow. Once the 50
meter mark is crossed, each such blade may weigh
over 9 tonnes. Whilst inbound logistics for blade
manufacturing may not be so much of a challenge,
its outbound is one of the biggest challenges. Surface
outbound is generally by road, though rail is also used
but not in India. To name a few key issues: Vehicle
length, ability to negotiate turns, support/cages to
withstand transit shocks, loading at factory, vehicle

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Indian Wind Power

transit time from loading to off loading, unloading at

site/ port. Many OEMs have responded differently to
such situations like moving manufacturing lines near
to points of consumption or ports. If nearer to site,
the economics need to work out and it is not only
the costing, but also the ability to get the required
skilled workforce. Another key supply chain challenge
in the manufacturing of the blade is the disposal of
waste generated. Much of it falls under the hazardous
category and many items have very limited economical
uses. Within the key challenges for inbound, especially
in India is significant quantities of material may need
to be imported, amounting to longer lead times and
balancing between Economies of scale and Optimal
Working capital. Further, many of the materials have
a shelf life and are sensitive to atmospheric conditions.
FIFO (First in, first out) has to be strictly followed for
many materials, especially glass and resin.
2. Nacelle: Converts wind (kinetic energy) to electrical
energy
Nacelle is an Assembly of the parts that converts the
mechanical energy into electrical energy. To do so, it has
control systems to sense the wind direction and speed
so that it can yaw itself to face the wind direction as
well as pitch the blades in or out. Many call it the heart
and mind of the WTG. Depending on the technology
used, the type of components within the nacelle will
change. This part of the WTG has the largest BoM (Bill
of Materials), most of it metal contributing to a large
head mass. Besides the large bill of materials, most of
the items demand a specialization, which increases the
supplier footprint to diverse locations. The challenges
supply chain face are enormous; commonality of
parts between models, developing vendors for quality,
supply security and cost, coordinated sourcing for
balanced BoM procurement, maintaining inventory for
turbine life, loading & unloading, vehicle capacity for
weight/axle, transit, especially over old infrastructure
of bridges, culverts, etc. For the models currently in
the Indian market, the weight of the larger nacelle and
hub can be around 100 tonnes.
3. Towers: Establishes the hub height
Towers vary in height and type - and at some regions
are considered as BoP. Besides the function of holding
the Nacelle & hub assembly, the tower has other
functions too. The access to the Nacelle, either through
ladder or lift is housed in the Tower and so are cables
for Power Evacuation. Further the Bottom panel and
Transformer may also be housed within the Tower.
Before the advent of Industrial turbines, the towers
used to be of Wood or Masonry. Todays industrial
turbines have towers of Steel or RCC (Reinforced
Cement Concrete). Within Steel they may be
framework (lattice, space frame), tubular or hybrid

of tubular and framework. There are also Hybrid of

Concrete and steel. Lattice towers are assembled on
site, whereas for concrete towers, the batching plant
is generally set up in close proximity to the site. As
taller towers are demanded to tap a higher PLF (Plant
Load Factor), the advent of different concepts come
up. Different material combinations and technologies
from tubular split to membrane covered space frames.
Towers are one of the most fascinating parts of the
Supply Chain the cost, lead time to deliver, freight
weight and volume tend to remain fixed for other
components but for Towers, the options are many.
Still, all the challenges that are seen in the Nacelle and
Blade get combined in the Tower. Also, the challenges
of material quality and its ability to remain standing for
the life of the turbine remain in a Nacelle one may
change a part but to change something in the Tower
may call for the de-erection of the whole turbine.
Material quality and its performance reliability are of
utmost importance.

4. Foundations: To whom all

gravitational get transferred.

environmental

and

Foundations are cast on site and hence would not

form part of the equipment supply.
Like the adage, when the goings gets tough, the
tough get going, the supply chain challenges in the
wind industry have got more complex and larger.
Probably, it is because of it, the industry has and is
maturing well. Two decades ago when the industry
started gaining foothold in India, the entire turbines
used to be imported, thereafter components and
today it is largely raw materials for the blade and some
specific components/parts for the nacelle and tower.
Today, so many parts are made in India. The Make
in India for wind turbines is a reality. With a little bit
of support, and continued perseverance of the OEMs,
what is likely to be a reality is Make in India and
install across the world.

We need your Feedback

Dear Reader,
It is our endeavour to make IWTMA magazine Indian
Wind Power, THE MAGAZINE for the Indian wind
Industry. Your feedback on the general impression of
the magazine, quality of articles, topics to be covered
in future, etc. will be of immense value to us. We are
thankful to your response. Kindly address your mail to
"associatedirector@indianwindpower.com".

The Editor - Indian Wind Power

Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association
4th Floor, Samson Tower, 403 L, Pantheon Road,
Egmore, Chennai - 600 008.
Tel : 044 43015773 Fax : 044 4301 6132
Email : associatedirector@indianwindpower.com

Thank You,

www.indianwindpower.com

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e

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e
v

Ad
6

m
e
is

National Institute of Wind Energy

2nd Wrapper

Regen Powertech Private Limited

3rd Wrapper

RRB Energy Limited

4th Wrapper

SKF

Bonfiglioli Transmission (Pvt.) Ltd.

13

Gamesa Wind Turbine Pvt. Ltd.

20-21

Wind World India Limited

27

Pioneer Wincon Private Limited

33

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

SKF Life Cycle Management

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For these and more solutions, visit www.skf.com/wind or contact

Abhijit Kulkarni
Head, Renewable Business India
abhijit.kulkarni@skf.com
Vinay Gaonkar
Manager, Application Engineering
vinay.gaonkar@skf.com
The Power of Knowledge Engineering
SKF is a registered trademark of the SKF Group | SKF Group 2014

SKF Life Cycle Management

Supply Chain Scenario of

Indian Wind Energy Industry
Girish Paliwal
Vice President, Wind World India Limited, Daman
India has a set of target of achieving overall wind energy
installed capacity of 27,300 MW by 2017 and 38500 MW
by 2022. The target itself is under review by exceptionally
enthusiastic Government favouring higher installation
of renewable energy power plants in the country. The
Government seems to be more optimistic than the industry
itself for the annual installations in the country.
This creates huge opportunity in the wind energy market
in India till for many more years to come. So also arrive
some unique challenges typical for wind power plants for
such ramp up of the preparation, manufacturing, sources,
installation and operating the wind power plants. The
challenges are even more specific for Indian scenario with
respect to the following:
1. Expected life time of 20 years and now there is already
trend to discuss about 25 years. That needs a very high
level of reliability of each of the part, material, sub
assembly, machine and the processes to build a wind
power plant in its entirety. The customers are evolving
to become mature and most investors looking at their
investments on long-term basis and they review their
options very seriously and critically. So the supply chain
perspective for wind mills has to consider a much
longer time horizon on their supply chain structure and
its reliability.
2. Wind energy business, very attractive in terms of
potential, possibilities, favourable environment, is at the
same time an unforgiving business. The reputation
and corresponding value that wind companies have
created over decades can be eroded with just a few
failures and breakdowns. This has implications on how
wind companies are structuring their supply chain and
its quality management system.
3. The information and data on performance and
reliability of the machine is not just restricted to the
manufacturer and the owner, as is the case in most
other products, it is visible to all. A machine not
rotating for a week can be noticed by anyone passing
by.
4. The interest rates in India for any investments including
funding of the wind power plants have remained high
during last few years and expected to remain high

as compared to global levels for some more years in

future. This puts immense pressure on the cost of the
wind power plants on per MW basis.
5. The volumes of components and parts though
increasing in totality are still at a very low level on per
annum basis as compared to many other industry and
products and reference example being automotive
and even off road vehicle industry. So while wind
companies cannot expect to get advantage of scale of
production, the demand on quality and resources from
suppliers remain of very high levels. And therefore very
little is left for the supply chain managers to engage
with suppliers on cost and price front.
6. The Wind Power plant consists of such a large variety
of material, parts, components and technologies
that getting into an expert level of understanding
of all elements to derive and drive benefits of such
knowledge is more difficult than what would be
desirable.
7. For the Indian context, the Wind energy technology
is yet to be assimilated across the supply chain in
India. Also the sources of parts and material are spread
widely across the globe with multiple and complex
cultural, economic dynamics playing.

The Value Chain

The wind energy value chain consists of broad specific steps
- from the supply of raw materials to the transmission of
electricity with multiple interlinks and sub steps for each.
The illustration here provides a broad view of the
opportunities and challenges along the entire wind energy
value chain.
A trend in the wind energy industry is the move towards
vertical integration along this value chain at least at
machine (Wind Operated Electricity Generator) level. With
supply chain bottlenecks a constant threat, many of the
large wind companies have responded by either acquiring
suppliers of critical components or creating in-house
production facilities such as blades, generators, towers
and gearboxes. By bringing suppliers in house, they could
ensure they would get the products they needed on time,
and at an acceptable price.

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Wind energy business is composed of developers,

manufacturers and operators. Wind turbines manufacturers
(WTM) generally embrace a range of activities including:
the development, design, production, construction,
operation and service of wind turbines.

both in technical depth and operation width and they are

very keen to understand the various process about the
manufacturing of wind turbine parts, components etc.

Main Players of Supply Chain in Wind Energy

Industry

The material flows in at least seven different levels of space

and time through vendor production, logistics, customs
clearances, processing and assembly, movement to site
locations, so as to converge at single point in time and
space so as to have one wind turbine generator to start
generating the rated output power at the available wind
speed and this one wind turbine generator then becomes
part of the wind power plant with several machines and
other constituents then converge to have the project ready
to deliver the power to the grid.

There are three different types of players in the downstream

supply chain of the wind energy industry. First tier customers
of wind energy are the Independent Power Producers (IPPs)
and corporate or individual owners of smaller number of
machines.
OEMs and developers, these are turbine manufacturers
and developers
Owners like financial institutions, utility companies,
private companies, banks consortium.
Financial institutions, bank, private equity venture
capital, clean energy fund, capital markets.
The main initiating point in supply chain management is
Demand Management and forecast about the number of
wind turbines to be installed at various regions and this
factor is depend on the various parameters like Government
policies viz. Generation Based Incentives (GBI), Depreciation
benefits, tariff rate at different states, evacuation capacities
of particular state, basic infrastructure facilities etc.
Another factor to be considered here is suitability of wind
data like wind speed, pattern of wind, land availability
and its effective management, liaison with government
authorities like forest department, local bodies like Gram
Panchayat, localities etc.
All these factors are affecting the potential demand for
wind energy business. Customers are interested in ROI and
accordingly decisions are taken and orders are being placed
to wind energy convertor manufacturer. In the financial year
2014-15 the New Government has declared depreciation
benefits to be continued which was discontinued and this
could be the main reasons to attract the business from the
retail customers for availing rebate in income tax.
Now a days customers are well aware on what they
can and should expect from a wind power plant. Their
understanding about the technical details and specifications
about the wind operated electricity generators is evolving

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Indian Wind Power

Forecasting and Demand Management

Such a complexity make is interesting and challenging

at the same time for the Wind Energy business in India
especially considering the fact that most companies directly
or indirectly, by choice or circumstances, are hogging
almost the entire supply chain up to delivery of the project.
Supply chain for any business process integration involves
collaborative work between buyers and suppliers, joint
product development, common systems, and shared
information. Complications for supply chain could be
significant for the wind energy. The supply chain is generally
spread across multiple geographies and is primarily forecast
driven.
On an annual basis, number of wind turbines to be installed
and commissioned in a particular period region wise/area
wise is being considered based on the order book, advances
against confirmed orders, customer orders in processing
and in negotiation stages. Cumulative requirement is
calculated for a particular financial year well in advance so
that the same could be given to manufacturing division to
finalize the production plan which could be spread over for
entire financial year. So the annual plans with reasonable
certainty especially with current policy environment are
generally possible without many complications.
The forecasting in wind energy business in India is unique
in the sense that now with policy clearly established for
longer timeframes; the certainty of the total annual
business has improved. However we have very unique
challenges at project execution and delivery stage, related
working capital implications and have impact on other
upside elements of supply chain. These aspects make the

micro level forecasting highly uncertain and thus creating

inefficiencies across the supply chain which incidentally has
a substantial value in the final product that is delivered at
site. Thus the wind energy business makes information,
its availability across supply chain, and its understanding
by the concerned on the implication of changes is almost
as critical as physical flow of material. The supply chain
processes and structure is just beginning to mature in
coping up with this and integrating with multitier of
suppliers and related elements.
Creating clear visibility across supply chain from vendors
to manufactures and equally important from producers
to vendors, where updated information is available rather
than sought and obtained is the key.

Procurement
A turbine is made out of multiple components, e.g. from
steel towers to high-tech components. Yet, 70% of the
total cost of a wind turbine comes from 7 main elements:
blades, tower, gearbox, generator, nacelle and power and
control systems (pitch and yaw), and transformer.

Broad Category of Components

Following is the broad category of different components
required for manufacturing of WTGs and their challenges:
1. Heavy Fabricated & Machined Components:
Like stator ring, disc rotor, stator jib carrier:
Challenges:
** To maintain good and consistent quality of heavy
and fabricated components,
** To establish the sufficient capacities at vendors
end to give the confidence about the consistency
and reliability in terms of delivery.
** To maintain the quality as per the specifications
given by OEMs designer, training and to create the
awareness amongst vendors personnel.
2. Small and Medium Sized Components:
Like planetary gear boxes, slewing ring bearings,
platform duly fabricated & hot dip galvanized,
compression rings and taper roller bearings.
The quality requirement of these components is
very stringent and its a challenging task to develop
potential vendors who can consistently provide good
quality components. Some of the components like
slewing ring bearings, planetary gear boxes required
design calculations and wind data to take care of
various loads after installation on the WTG. The vendor
has to get prior approval from the certified agencies
like GL, TUV etc.

10

3. Casting and Forged Parts:

Like rotor hub, blade adapter, axle pin etc.
Most of the wind turbine manufacturers are using
casting of good quality like S.G.I. grade GGG40.3
having impact value at -20 degree Celsius and apart
from this vendor has to control their foundry process
to minimize the rejection during melting and pouring
of the castings. The information flow from the vendors
to their customers about the WIP stage of these
components is extremely important so that WTM will
rest assured about the delivery of the casting parts and
there would be mutual benefits for both the OEM and
their suppliers.
4. Hardware Items:
Like high tensile bolts and nuts, washers, screws, studs
etc. In most of the turbines various types of hardware
are being used like tower hardware (for assembly of
flanges and tower shell), foundation bolts, different
types of studs, studs required for joining of rotor blades
to blade adapters etc. This hardware is made of high
quality carbon steel duly heat treated and galvanized
to withstand high tensile loads, torque requirements
and corrosion protection.
5. Raw Materials for Rotor Blades:
Raw material requirements are epoxy resin, fiber glass
cloth, adhesives, Balsa wood, PVC foam sheets, other
accelerators and consumable items.
In Indian market there are some potential good
quality vendors available for epoxy resin and other
raw material and consumable items but main worry
is about the risk mitigation of Balsa wood, the main
worry is the plantation of Balsa wood is only available
at South America and process of seasoning and
cutting of Balsa wood is long process and these plants
required specific climatic conditions and temperature
for cultivation. There is no potential source in India
for PVC foam, OEMs has to find out some alternative
material against PVC foam sheet e.g. Sanfoam from
Gurit, Hunny Comb sheet, etc.
Due to the size and complexity of turbine blades, each
blademust be crafted to the highest quality standards
in order to ensure reliability. This fabrication process
can be very costly and labour intensive. The Advanced
Manufacturing Initiative for blades a partnership
between DOE, Sandia National Laboratories, TPI
Composites, etc. has helped establish advanced
techniques that reduce the time it takes to produce
a single blade by approximately 37% (from 38 to 24
hours). Turbine blades must be able to maintain their
strength and aerodynamic structure during virtually
non-stop operations over twenty years.

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

6. Convertors and Controller Parts:

In India there are some potential vendors who can
provide good quality and advance versions of convertors
which can be tailor made to suit the requirement of
various electronic aspects of wind turbine like sensing,
yawing, pitching operation, grid management etc.
Spare software is required which can be inbuilt in the
design itself.
Existing turbines are replacing the earlier system of
converters with PLC based system which is quite
compact in design and can replace many electronic
components and cost competitive.
There are some electronic components like IGBTs,
acceleration sensors having limited source across the
world due to frequent development taking place in
electronic components old versions may be discontinue.
There is emphasis to reduce the US$ content due to
import of the electronic components and to develop
alternate source preferable from India or countries like
South Korea considering the advantage of Free Trade
Agreement (FTA).
7. Site Related Components:
Components like towers, transformers, power and
control cables, earthling connections, DP mounting
structures, refection and commissioning kits are
required at the time of erection and commissioning of
the WTG.
Steel sections of the towers are directly being delivered
to various project sites and locations.
In India, some WTM having their own manufacturing
setup for pre stressing concrete towers which are cost
competitive and longer life and less maintenance cost
as against traditional tubular towers. OEMs for concrete
towers are setting up their plants near by their project
locations to minimize the logistics cost.

Inventory Management
Let us say, the inventory management for wind energy
business is different. While this can be said for most of
the businesses, the combination of project management
with engineering manufacturing process with both highly
interlinked makes a case for such a statement.
The challenges of the forecasting for wind energy projects
as explained above and due to complexity involved during
project execution stage in Indian scenario, wind energy
Industry is facing very crucial issue of working capital
management and it adds to difficulty of the business that
this remains highly expensive with reference to global
comparisons.
Delayed project execution due to n no of issues like
clearance from government authorities, land procurement
cycle, timely execution of activities like road construction,
evacuation capacities at particular state electricity board,
local issues and many other factors which are the main
causes of delays and which is affecting the cash flow cycle
and therefore the material flow.
On a broader lever at project, we can have mismatch
of time and major sub-assemblies with repercussions on
manufacturing and then back end manufacturing and
similarly corresponding impact of supply chain disturbances
on manufacturing and then onto the project execution
making it double whammy so as to say.
So the concepts like just in time are in fact very
expensive when perspective is restricted to a limited part
of the supply chain. The need for wind energy supply
chain is to consider at any point of time and envisage at
different points of time in future, what would be the best
inventory position considering the whole of the supply
chain. The efficiencies can be brought in only when there
is comprehensive view and decisions are taken virtually
every day based on emerging scenarios.
So the key is as near JIT as possible, but with entire
supply chain in view.

Another challenge in steel section tower is availability

of good quality high carbon steel (St52-3N) plates as
there are few domestic players in India like SAIL/Essar/
JSW/JSPL.

Concepts for Supply Chain:

To develop good sources with sufficient production

capacities for supply of forging rings and tower flanges
along with competitive cost and timely deliveries are
another big challenge.

1. Substitute inventory with information and people who

can understand the dynamically changing information
with its implications on what decisions they need
to take. This is the soft part, which costs much less
than the inventory but extremely difficult to evolve,
develop and institutionalize for any company. It would
also need excellent information technology platform
availability across the supply chain and not just the
wind company.

Its extremely important that dispatch of right quantity

of components required at specific project location as
per scheduled plan so that installation plan should not
be hampered due to non availability of site items.

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Indian Wind Power

Some of the concepts which we believe will work for

supply chain for this business are as follows:

11

2. Substitute inventory being available to inventory on the

move. This is much easier said than done but with first
concept established, there is possibility to implement
this at every process and node of the supply chain
and higher the part of inventory on move out of
total, the more effective and efficient is the inventory
management.
3. Put resources on quality management and reliability
rather than on material inventory. Logic though
obvious that the extent to which we can reduce
uncertainty, has direct impact on the inventory one
needs to carry at most stages in the supply chain,
physical implementation can take years. And this is
applicable not just for tier one but can go up to tier
four or five of the supply chain and it takes huge time
and effort to be able to build this up and sustain it.
However once this is established and managed, can
have direct impact in inventory other than the primary
benefit in the reliability of the machines.

Some Future Perspective for Supply Chain

1. Industry has to constantly review tradeoff between
vertical integration vs. focus on core business to deliver
a reliable project in time; both have implication on cost
and delivery.

drawing board is the most cost effective and reliable

for Indian condition with whatever technology updates
that are incorporated.
4. The wind energy business and technology are full of
future promises and potential. We are a very young
business, and therefore there could be and would
disruptive changes and innovations both on product,
technology and the business environment. The supply
chain structure normally takes quite a long time to
assimilate such changes specially when we are dealing
with relatively lower volume by general industry
standards and many large, complex, demanding
items needing substantial resource allocations across
supply chain. However delays to bring about the new
technologies and so also ramping up the numbers can
make the business not so attractive for investments
and we all have seen what a period of low business for
some months can impact for most companies.
The question is to what extent we can foresee
and get the elements of the supply chain future
ready vendors, their infrastructure, equipments,
manufacturing process, orientation with new policies,
new regulations, new opportunities opening up etc.

2. The wind mill designs that we see now are almost

all designed outside India, by designers abroad, for
conditions in Europe. After all can we expect a designer
who has never experienced anything higher than 35
degrees Celsius temperature to consider that wind
mills will be operating at a temperature of 50 degree
Celsius? Or has seen may be one of two blackouts in
his lifetime? Or cannot understand how making cables
of aluminum makes it unattractive for theft? Future
machines will have to be at least Co designed for
Indian conditions and that is not restricted just to class
of wind.

5. Information Technology: Things have moved from

IT giving information about business in what was
called as ERP supporting system to integration
of the product design and development, marketing
intelligence, customer responses, manufacturing,
business processes, component field performance,
feedback data constantly converging till almost last
moment in dynamically modifying the product and
its offering. While it may be too much for the wind
energy business as of now, other industries have
already moved on to such platforms. Can supply chain
for wind energy initiate and drive such change even at
a slower pace but with certainty?

3. There will be always cost pressure on wind energy

business even if it becomes competitive with
respect to other power generation option. The real
competition is not with the power business but with
the other investment opportunities and we never
know which business will offer the competition and
when. In future supply chain structures will have to be
highly engaged in evolution of design for machines for
India. This would mean engaging or at least complete
understanding of various tradeoffs spherically in
Indian business environment, with vendors, their sub
vendors, procurement experts, quality, manufacturing,
operations (maintenance), and very important logistics
personnel so that what gets finally as a solution on

6. Cost and Reliability: Finally the core of the supply

chain will remain focus on cost, cost and cost with
ever increasing expectations and demand on reliability.
After all we are in the business of a product giving
investment opportunity with expected returns to
continue for 25 years. To be able to meet up to such
challenges, the wind companies on its own will be
able to do only very little. The meaning of phrase
team work for this business needs to be expanded
to much wider and longer horizon. It is only when all
elements of supply chain are optimising in totality at a
wholesome and not each element separately, can we
barely be able to survive and hopefully grow in a very
fulfilling and promising future opportunities.

12

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Complete Solutions for

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Key Priorities and Regulatory

Interventions for Future Wind Growth
Ajit Pandit
Director, Idam Infrastructure Advisory Pvt Ltd

Introduction
As on January 2015, the cumulative installed capacity of
wind power in India has crossed 22 GW. However, the
annual wind power development in the recent past has
suffered due to several factors. Lack of stable & long-term
policy environment, inadequate RPO enforcement
mechanism, slow pace of infrastructure planning and
eco-system development for wind power evacuation and
grid integration and frequent changes in rules governing
market off-take arrangements are some of the factors
responsible for the current state of uncertainty surrounding
the investment in the wind sector. The National Wind
Mission steered by the MNRE seeks to address some of
these challenges and aims to accomplish cumulative
capacity to cross 100 GW by end of 13th Plan (by 2022).
In this article, three critical issues that would greatly
influence the future Wind capacity addition plans have
been discussed namely, (a) evacuation planning, (b)
implementation framework for scheduling & forecasting
and (c) RPO compliance, monitoring & enforcement.

Key Priority-1: Evacuation Planning & Business

Model for Implementation
The Section 86(1)(e) of EA 2003 requires State Electricity
Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) to promote harnessing
of renewable energy sources by specifying minimum
percentage for procurement from renewable energy
sources and also by providing suitable measures for
connectivity to grid for such sources. While many SERCs
have notified Regulations under this provision specifying
percentage of RPO targets, most of the SERCs have still
not addressed the critical issue of grid connectivity and
evacuation infrastructure for renewable energy sources.
The resource constrained STUs are averse to invest in
transmission assets and evacuation infrastructure dedicated
to renewable energy sources due to its inherent nature of
lower capacity utilisation factors. The problem is aggravated
to such an extent that in some states like Tamil Nadu, the
existing wind energy generation capacity is under-utilised
due to backing down of wind generation due to evacuation
constraints. The developers and investors would be keen to
invest in creation of such infrastructure provided there is
regulatory clarity and certainty as regards recovery of costs

14

pertaining to such investments. Appropriate market model

may be necessary to address infrastructure requirement
of renewable energy sources, however, transmission
capacity planning by STU should recognise such evacuation
infrastructure requirement in the first place.

Key Priority-2: Addressing Ambiguity in

Implementation Framework for Scheduling &
Forecasting
Apart from deficiency in evacuation infrastructure,
wind developers are faced with a issue of addressing
implementation challenges to operationalize scheduling
requirements for their wind generation. The Indian
Electricity Grid Code Regulations, 2010 (IEGC 2010) issued
by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and
the subsequent regulatory Orders stipulated that wind
generators with collective capacity of 10 MW and above
connected at connection point of 33 kV level and above,
and where Pooling Stations are commissioned after May 3,
2010, are now mandated to provide day-ahead schedules
for their ex-power plant capacities.
The wind generators shall be responsible for forecasting
their generation up to accuracy of 70%. Thus, if the
actual generation is beyond +/- 30% of the schedule,
the wind generator would have to bear the unscheduled
interchange (UI) charges. The host state shall bear the UI
charges for the variation between +/- 30%. However, the
UI charges borne by the host state shall be shared among
all the states in the ratio of their peak demands in the
form of Renewable Regulatory Charge operated through a
Renewable Regulatory Fund (RRF).
Lack of clarity on the entity responsible for undertaking
scheduling and for undertaking commercial settlement of
transactions with RRF as regards individual wind generators
has been the main reason for delay in implementation of
RRF mechanism. Further, considering various operating
challenges such as inadequate forecasting capability,
ambiguity of roles for various stakeholders, inadequate
infrastructure such as ABT meters, communication network
etc., during the mock exercise, the provision for mandatory
scheduling for wind has been put on hold by CERC untill
such date as may be notified by CERC. There is urgent
need to have regulatory clarity to emerge on the issue of

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

wind forecasting with suitable risk allocation mechanism

and need for creation of separate institutional entity needs
be explored. Renewable Energy Management Centres
(REMCs) are expected to address these requirements but
role, responsibility, institutional and governance structure
of REMCs shall greatly depend upon regulatory mandate
in this respect.

Key Priority-3: RPO Compliance Monitoring &

Enforcement
So far, over 28 SERCs have notified RPOs Regulations and
stipulated RPO targets. However, despite the regulations
being in place for a few years now, very few obligated
entities have actually fulfilled their RPOs. The various issues
surrounding compliance with RPOs are as follows:
a. Inadequate Monitoring and Verification of RPO
Compliance of Obligated Entities
The regulations governing RPOs formulated by SERCs
assign the task of monitoring and verification of RPO
fulfilment by the obligated entities to a designated
state agency (one in each state). These state agencies
are usually the state nodal agencies (SNAs) responsible
for the development of renewable energy sources and
are governed by the respective state governments.
Typical responsibilities of these SNAs under the RPO
regulations include identification of obligated entities,
monitoring their electricity consumption, computing
the RPO of the obligated entities, and reporting to
SERCs the status of compliance with the RPO. In most
cases, SNAs find it difficult to carry out their duties
specified in the regulations because the institutional
capacity is inadequate. Also, no mechanism for
monitoring compliance with the RPOs has been
formulated at the national level; the job has been left
to SERCs. In the absence of any standard monitoring
and verification guidelines, different SERCs have
adopted vastly varying approaches.
b. Penalty for Non-Compliance
Section 86 (1)(e) of EA 2003 deals with specification
of RPOs for obligated entities, and Section 142
with provisions for non-compliance. However, the
applicability of Section 142 in the case of noncompliance of RPO has not served to be adequate
deterrent, since the current penalty mechanism does
not clearly outline the quantum of penalty as well
as the methodology for levy of the same. Very few
SERCs have issued orders related to compliance with
RPOs, and even those that have done so have allowed
the RPO to be carried forward to subsequent years.
Hence, it is preferred that the Act should be amended
to indicate the level of penalty for non-compliance.
It is understood that the Electricity (Amendment) Bill
2014 is expected to address this issue with stringent
penal provisions. It is felt that such amendment is

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Indian Wind Power

extremely crucial for sustainable development of the

renewable energy sector in the country.
c.

Framework for RPO compliance for Open Access and

Captive Consumers
Section 86 (1)(e) of EA 2003 does not refer to any
particular type of obligated entity but merely stipulates
that a certain minimum percentage of the total
consumption in the area of the distribution licensee
should be in the form of renewable power without
expressly placing the obligation on open-access or
captive-power consumers.
Data published by CEA indicates that about 43,300
MW of fossil fuel based captive power capacity
exists in the country. If a notional 5% non-solar
RPO is applicable on this captive power generation,
it translates to demand for about 6,600 MW of RE
generation capacity. Alternatively, it creates a demand
for over 13 million RECsmore than the unsold RECs
at the power exchange as of today. Similarly, there
is significant amount of open access transactions,
(bilateral and collective) that are taking place in the
country.
While RPO compliance monitoring for distribution
licensees takes place through the annual Performance
review exercise before the regulatory commission, the
compliance monitoring for other obligated entities
like captive power producers, open access consumers
and other obligated entities is far from satisfactory.
Only few states have initiated exercise to undertake
compliance monitoring and reporting of RPO
compliance of CPP and OA transactions.
It is necessary to develop a registry of all obligated
entities, develop web enabled tools for ease of access
to information and ensure transparency in the process.
It would also be useful to put in place an institutional
framework for operationalizing the RPO compliance
co-ordination cell under aegis of regulatory institution
to institutionalise this process.

Conclusion
In order to upscale large scale deployment of wind
installations, apart from focusing on supply side measures,
the National Wind Mission should also lay emphasis
on demand side intervention measures. In this context,
regulatory institutions should consider following key
priorities (a) encourage state participation in planning
& development of wind resource based transmission
evacuation infrastructure, (b) develop institutional capacity
for management of wind intermittency and bringing
clarity in scheduling framework and (c) develop adequate
institutional capacity for RPO compliance monitoring and
reporting framework and to ensure timely enforcement of
RPO targets.
(Note: Views expressed in the article are Authors personal
views and need not necessarily represent views of the
organization.)

15

Supply Chain Challenges in

Wind Turbine Industry
A.S. Karanth
Wind Energy Consultant, askaranth@gmail.com
There are several issues one has to take into account in the
wind turbine business supply chain. It plays an important
role in:
1. Project Execution
2. Turbine Manufacturing
3. Operation and Maintenance
4. New Turbine Development

1. Project Execution
Supply chain needs to be given importance,
marked by standardization and selecting right
suppliers with proven record. Quality is equally
important as cost.
As wind power projects are necessarily to be
time bound, high degree of accuracy at the time
of project planning is must keeping in mind to
facilitate least amount of down time for trouble
free operation over a 20 year period.
What is not well taken care in the initial project
execution can be seen in falling apart of
equipment, adding down time. These stoppages
are additional to what can be due to Turbines.
There are chances of these deficiencies causing
additional repair / replacement costs to the
investor.

2. Turbine Manufacturing
Procurement
decisions
during
Turbine
manufacturing also depend on the Technology
provider. Scenarios under different arrangements
can be:
** Joint Venture The Buyer may need to
procure from the partner, if the part/
component/equipment is made at the
partners end, for distribution to all the
subsidiaries or associates. This throws some
challenges to the local buyer in terms of
continuously negotiating deliveries, prices
and dealing regularly with quality issues.

16

Additionally, there are logistics costs and

duty administration while handling parts
import for turbine build and later defective
parts export.
** Licensee / Royalty In this case the Licensor
is less bound while opting for different
sources of supplies. There may be some
initial guidance and approval support, but
the buyer can choose alternate parts in India,
subject to Turbine certification norms.
** Parts Supply Bound Contract Licensee Here
the licensor may insist that specific quantity
of turbines would be built with the parts
sent by his licensor, who in turn would have
had the advantage of bulk order negotiation.
** New Turbine (own) Development Based on
earlier experiences in the Indian supply chain
situation, Indian companies can find the best
sources for the recommended component.
Yes, these choices need to meet the approval
of the Design Consulting group and / or
companys engineering department. The
primary drive in opting for this alternative
is cost, or sometimes uneasiness with
the earlier supplier. Procurement usually
happens, with the supplier claiming that he
has already been supplying to another wind
turbine manufacturer and it is available at a
lower cost.
China is becoming a major turbine component supplier.
Manufacturers in the urge of reducing the turbine costs,
would like to go for alternate sources of parts from China
after the first Certification process, where European sources
are used as recommended by Design house or Technology
Partner. A word of caution is necessary to ensure long-term
consistency and commitment and need not always rest on
cost considerations only.
For critical high value items like castings and blades, the risk
is higher, and it needs to be watched closely. The company
can take care of these, with its own close supervision
established in China, preferably by appointing Chinese
engineers who are specifically selected & trained to look at

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

quality issues and also to ensure selected processes remain.

This culture of managing the supplies with close scrutiny
is possible only when you have high volume purchases.
The Chinese suppliers may also need the right guidance.
Language can be challenge.

Revisions in Standards GL/IEC It is also necessary

to keep a watch for and be prepared to adhere to
new standards as and when regulating agencies
enforce them, in the current scenario of time to
time changes.

One needs to get them to understand the detailed

specifications correctly before finalizing and setting the
process, which is done exclusively for that Indian company.
In most cases, however, the result of such an exercise at
lowering sourcing cost can only be seen after a few years
of the turbine working, and not immediately.

Relisting NIWE / MNRE / Concessional

Duty Any major change undertaken, either under
compulsion because the current source does not
continue, or one undertakes a major change with
a major component such as tower (hub height),
rotor diameter, pitch system or control system,
the company is compelled to follow the set
procedures to get the revised product approved
and re-listed with the government, to get market
acceptance.

INDIA SPECIFIC: Supply Chain challenges for the wind

turbine business in India are unique. Even though some of
the challenges are akin to other manufacturing engineering
industries like automotive and heavy engineering, the wind
turbine as a product poses some special demands. A few
are dealt here:
Technology It is true that technology
development, which takes place outside India
and transfer of technology which takes place
by technical collaboration, joint venture or as a
wholly owned subsidiary of the parent company.
It is important that all vital information is made
available to the local partner though the IPR
rights will be held by the technology proprietor.
Load Case Since the turbine operation safety is
linked with the designed safety life cycle, enough
care should be taken while choosing alternate
sources.
Re-verification/ India Design Group / External
Consultants When alternatives are sourced for
major components the time taken is considerable.
It is also important that the local company
engineering team follows good engineering
procedures and practices, to complete the
right processes to succeed, even if required by
seeking support from international experts for
development process implementation. This is
required to succeed in achieving the desired
result, from this change of source.
Assurance of Certified Performance with
Changes In India few companies have expertise
on the engineering front to manage on their
own and be confident of getting the same
turbine performance as was initially certified. If
the change does not bring the desired result,
the pain that one has to go through facing the
customer, together with the likely loss of business
and credibility is tremendous.
Re-Certification Cost & Time In case of alternate
sourcing of critical components, redevelopment
costs of both engineering and testing before
introduction is substantial.

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Indian Wind Power

3. Operation & Maintenance

The Supply Chain for O & M is again different from
that what is for turbine production. Generally, this
business is considered independent, and the team
usually has its own requirement -- some are planned
for periodical procurements, and some are downtime
related urgencies. Here the pressure on procurement
varies with the available time.
In small companies, O & M requirement orders get
clubbed with Production requirements. In large
companies they are done separately.
Issues arise when imported parts are needed for
maintenance jobs. Custom duty may also vary, since
concessional duty applicable for turbine (parts) content
materials may not be applicable for O & M parts. But
under pressure from customers to put the turbines
back into service, there is a likelihood that sometimes
equivalent parts are used based on judgment, rather
than to be done by following the procedures set for
alternate sourced parts for turbine production.
With O & M contracts where parts are billed separately
based on the actual replacement part (possibly covered
under Insurance claims), one can take a bold and trialoriented approach to replace the parts, where cost
may be secondary to avoid downtime.

4. Product Development
The role of Supply Chain in the Product Development
phase of a new turbine model is very critical. The
business entity may already be a turbine manufacturer
or it could be a new investor entering the turbine
business. In the first case, the manufacturer is already
familiar with supply sources for various parts required
for this new model that is under design, development
and prototype construction. In the second case,
the design house generally drives the selection
and process, or the new team brings in all the old

17

experiences or references of supply sources. Here, it is

very essential to exercise caution while selecting and
undertaking this development phase. Once decided,
these get locked in for a series of turbines which
go into manufacturing after certification. Hence any
change later will entail additional approval process
and time.
It is also essential to review the plans of such new
entrants, as to whether they can give adequate aftersales support or be able to locally manufacture if it
is an international player, of course subject to offtake volume. The drawing of contracts too has to be
skilfully done, to cover all aspects of the situations
one would face over the long period of being in the
business of turbine manufacture.

Supply Issues
Availability of turbine components easily, across the world,
is generally an issue. This could be due to the mismatch
between demand and availability. Market variations
over the years also cause supply issues in India. Some
commodity component suppliers such as for castings
and forgings depend only partially on the wind turbine
business. Component manufacturers cannot depend
only on wind turbine manufacturers because of the low
volumes and high variants. Over the last decade many
suppliers had geared up with huge investments, banking
on the upbeat mood in the market, but suffered for want
of orders. Obtaining localized parts of the right quality in
higher volumes is always a challenge. Partnership between

turbine manufacturer and equipment supplier is of very

great importance as they are tailor made. A positive step
has been made by inviting component manufacturers to
become part of wind turbine manufacturers and work
together in emerging technologies and make supply chain
an opportunity rather than a challenge. Most turbine parts
are not part of any manufacturers standard catalogue
items. They are custom made, tailored to the individual
turbine design and development. Components like blades
are dependent on the individual turbine design chosen
for the turbine. Turbine Rating Variants in the market also
pose problems. There is also variation in the parts required
for turbines of different manufacturers.
The Indian turbine manufacturers supply chain can ease
with advancement in:
a) Engineering skills related to Wind Turbine Design,
b) Engineering Design verification tools,
c) In-house Vendor Development skills,
d) Good partnership with vendors
e) Process Determination and Documentation
f)

A top-down emphasis on Quality Process Management

throughout the manufacturing process, with
continuous empowerment of the supplier team.

In conclusion, the Wind Turbine Supply Chain is somewhat

different from other industries, and challenging at all times.
But it is very critical to the success of the Wind Turbine
business.

Snippets on Wind Power

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi makes Strong Pitch for Clean Energy at G20 Summit

18

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has pitched for a global effort at G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia to
make clean energy available to all through concerted actions, which can be a major economic opportunity for
all countries across the globe. Seeking collective R&D effort and collaboration in the direction of having clean
energy path. Modi urged the leaders of big economies to set up a global virtual centre for clean energy
research and development, with adequate public funding, which will fund collaborative projects in diverse
sources of clean energy, smart grids and energy efficiency.

Direct Discounting of GBI Claims by IREDA

IREDA has come up with a new scheme of discounting GBI claims. As per the scheme 80% of
the pending GBI claim will be given as loan at an interest rate of 0.90% Per month (10.80% PA).

IREDA, US Exim Bank Ink $1 Billion Pact for Clean Energy Projects
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), a body under the Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy, has signed a preliminary agreement with US Exim Bank for a $1 billion loan from the American entity
to undertake development activities in the clean energy sector. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has
been signed between IREDA and US Exim Bank with respect to cooperation in clean energy investment.

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Hard Road to Travel for Wind

Logistics in India
K.P. Chandrasekar
Assistant Vice President Logistics, ReGen Powertech Pvt. Ltd.
Wind turbine transportation though have been happening
In India for the past few decades, the transportation of
wind energy equipment becomes super ODC Cargo
a decade ago, after India started to embracing multimegawatt turbines.

to carry cargo from one state to another state one need to

apply for multi-state permits (valid for 1 year and handled
by the Central Government), Fitness certificate can be
obtained from State Governments and insurance need to
get every year from the insurance companies.

A decade back, it was quite common to witness the wide

eyed curious onlookers on highways, at towns and villages,
who stopped their work and watch the transportation of
wind energy super ODC components like rotor blades,
nacelle assemblies, generator assemblies, tubular tower
sections etc. with so much of excitement and animated
talk. Now, however big the size of component, most of
the people look at this as nuisance on the highway and
villages which is slowing down their journey and some
people who live in the remote villages consider this as God
send opportunity for them to make money by stopping
and preventing the transportation of wind components
through their village roads and unused agricultural lands.

On receipt of above document, when commercial vehicles

move on the road, they are subjected to overload and
over-dimension rules framed by the State Governments.
At present the Governments are allowing the mechanical
vehicles to carry maximum GVW of 49 Metric Ton including
trailer-tractor weight. Though, the Government intention is
good in ensuring the distribution of weights in multiple
axles and the prevention of road damage by halting and
confiscating over load vehicles, Government is yet to come
on grip the development happening in wind industry.
Wind energy generator assemblies, nacelle assemblies and
bottom tower sections weighs more than Governments
permitted limit of 49 Metric Ton maximum load on multiaxles.

People approach, opinion and expectation on multiMegawatt turbines had gone a sea change in decade
period but the harassment at the hands of check post, RTO,
sales tax, police, toll gate, highway robberies and stealing
of diesel, tyres, money, miscreants damaging the vehicles
etc. are increased in greater phenomenon, which prevents
the reputed transporters to enter in to the transportation
of wind turbine super ODC components within India.
Today in India the transportation policy and guidelines are
framed by the Central Government but the interpretation
of Central Government guidelines and implementation
are rests with the respective State Governments. This
arrangement enables the State Governments to generate
direct revenue but contributes delay in free vehicles
movements across India. This especially affects the wind
Industry super ODC Components very badly.
Today in India to operate commercial vehicle the owner/
company has to apply mother tax (handled by State
Government) for quarterly, half-yearly or annually and to
operate within India need to apply for National Permit
(valid for 5 years and handled by Central Government) and

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Indian Wind Power

Transportation of such super ODC wind components are

subjected to delay at check posts, confiscation of vehicles,
levy of penalty, palming the grease etc.
The Government of India is promoting renewable energy
aggressively and sets an ambitious target of 5000
MW for wind energy and with this, the estimated road
transportation cost would be about Rs. 2000 Crores.
The transportation of super ODC cargo would also spurs
the employment opportunity for skilled and unskilled
manpower in transportation sector.
At present in India the road infrastructure is definitely
much better than what was available in 20 years back.
Transportation of generalised cargo is lot easier now but
super ODC cargo or project cargo transportation still
faces the vertical and horizontal challenges. Our road
infrastructure should be made future ready and dedicated
freight lane must be created on national highways. The
dedicated freight lane should be capable for transportation
of project cargos and super ODC cargos without any height
or width restrictions.

19

The Governments does not have complete data with regard

to number and type of vehicles plying on National and State
Highways. These data would enable the Governments to
analyse the frequent spots where accidents and incidents
are regularly taking place and to create modifications on
road infrastructure to accommodate the requirements of
regular vehicles plying on the road. These data enable the
project cargo mover to do proper route planning before
starting to move the project cargo on planned route.
The Central Government has taken a policy decision
recently that to create road network across India, matching
the European standard. In connection with this they
have mooted that all the project cargos which can be
transported in modular hydraulic trailers can obtain road
permission online. Though, this is an excellent move by the
present Central Government in bailing out the heavy haul
cargo transporters to transport the project cargo on Indian
roads much easier than the few months back.
Transport of wind equipment through modular hydraulic
Trailers will not provide immediate relief to the wind
components movement. Primarily in India, all the project
cargo is being moved in mechanical trailers and lot of fleet
suiting to wind industry are available in adequate numbers.
Whereas, the modular hydraulic trailers are available in

22

limited number and good quality modular hydraulic axles

need to be imported to beef-up the fleet supply. This
requires huge investment.
In wind industry, the users of these fleets expect the
Government to permit to create goose neck trailer with
5 hydraulic axles. This would require very less investment
and minimum modifications on existing fleets and also this
would enable the modified vehicle to carry maximum of
100 Metric Ton load on Indian roads. Thus, we can prevent
the road damages and equal distribution of cargo weight
on all axles and freight cost will also not shoot up and
delay at check posts can be drastically reduced.
India has got huge population and plenty of manpower
available. Unfortunately, the shortage of skilled drivers is
prevalent for quite a long period. Government and private
sector must come together to create an academy to train
driver crew to drive all kinds of heavy haul fleet.
The Government should also consider providing concession
or removal of toll gate fee to the vehicles carrying wind
energy equipment across India. This would reduce
minimum 10 % of existing freight cost of wind equipment
transportation across India.

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Criteria for WTG Prototype Certification and

Type testing of Prototype from the
New Manufacturers Perspective
Srikaanth Sarangapani
srikanths_2k1@yahoo.com
Certification of wind turbine or
components is an important milestone
and becoming mandatory in most
of the places around the world.
Furthermore certification to the local
country specific requirement is needed
to commercialize the new turbine in
the market.
Hence, it is important to know the
different certification schemes and
guidelines/standards of wind turbine
and components for the benefit of
wind turbine manufacturers, bankers,
customers, insurance agencies.
Various type certification schemes
available:

Submission of Documents

Company Profile,
ISO System

Technical

documentation,

Parent company &

Foreign company
collaboration agreement

Documentation

Manufacturing
Facility Evaluation
Information

as mentioned in
Design Evaluation
document
requirement

(if applicable)

Accept
No

1. Danish Type Certification Scheme

Manufacturing facility Visit & Evaluation

2. Dutch Type Certification Scheme

3. IEC Type Certification Scheme
4.
Germanisher
Lloyds
Certification Scheme

Type

It is important and necessary to refer

various documents to understand the
requirements of certification and seek
expertise of experienced professionals
who can do value addition to the
companies (start to end solutions)
going in for setting up prototypes
in India, as the requirements are not
simple and need to be aligned with
the external (foreign) certification
bodies.
There is a need to re-look at the various
documents being used presently and
come out with a single document or
an Indian standard for the prototype
certification for simplicity and easy
implementation.

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

No

Accept
Agreements with Indian Certification Body for
Certification & Type Testing
RLMM Processing Fee
Conduct of RLMM meeting by
Indian Certification Body
Inclusion in RLMM list

Process flow of inclusion of new company in Revised List of Models and Manufacturers of
wind turbine and requirements for entering agreement with Indian Certification Body

Approach
This article puts focus on the requirements of Indian Certification Type Approval
Pro-visional Scheme-2000 (TAPS-2000) for WTG system in India and describes

Indian Wind Power

23

the process of getting covered under the approved list of

WTG manufacturers by fulfilling the requirements as per
the existing standards/schemes in vogue.

Type approval - provisional scheme - TAPS2000 (amended)

TAPS-2000 (amended), the Indian certification scheme
for wind turbines, has been prepared by the unit in line
with International Standards, while taking into account
the Indian environmental and operating conditions. The
scheme was approved and issued by Ministry.
Type Approval Provisional Scheme (TAPS) 2000 is a
scheme for provisional certification and corresponding
requirements of provisional type testing and measurements. TAPS will be in use till the formation and issue of
final Type Approval Scheme (TAS) and formal accreditation.
According to TAPS-2000 (amended), the Provisional Type
Certification (PTC) of wind turbines can be carried out
according to the following three categories:
Category-I: PTC for wind turbine already possessing
type certificate or approval.
Category-II: PTC for wind turbine already possessing
type certificate or approval, with minor modifications/
design changes, including provisional type testing/
measurements at the test site of Indian Certification
Body / customer site.

Design Evaluation
Certification body evaluates WT type is designed and
documented in conformity with the design assumption,
standard and technical requirements.
Following documentation are required for this purpose:
Wind Turbine description
Detailed technical specifications including the make,
model and source of major components
Environmental condition & wind turbine design class
Control and Protection system
Load and Load cases including details of Design Load
Cases (DLCs)
Foundation design
Measurement Load Cases (MLCs)
Manufacturing, Installation and maintenance plan
Safety and function test

Partial Design Evaluation / Review of type

Certificate
The type certification/approval systems of Denmark,
The Netherlands, Germanischer Lloyds and the IEC are
recognized by TAPS and the certificates issued according
to these four systems, are recognized by PTC.

Manufacturing System Evaluation

Category-III: PTC for new or significantly modified

wind turbine including provisional type testing/
measurements at the test site of Indian Certification
Body / customer site.

The evaluation includes manufacturing quality system,

manufacturing evaluation of the vendors supplying
key components like blade, gearbox, tower and the
manufacturing evaluation of the wind turbine assembly
facility.

Scope of TAPS

Review of Foundation Design Requirements

The following is the scope of TAPS:

TAPS covers the whole WT up to and including WT
terminals and from the terminals to the grid.
TAPS covers the whole process covering design,
manufacturing and installation.
Type certification for the design of the wind turbine
is based on verification of documentation supplied
by the WT supplier, if necessary, supplemented by
independent calculations, tests and surveillance
inspections.
Quality of the manufacturing and installation of WTs
shall be ensured by review of the manufacturers QMS.
The QMS shall preferably be certified for compliance
with ISO 9001-2008.
TAPS ensures compliance with the current safety
requirements.

24

The purpose of evaluation of the foundation design

requirements is to verify the loads considered in foundation
design compared with the tower bottom loads calculated
in the design documentation.

Foundation Design Evaluation (Optional)

The purpose of the optional foundation design evaluation
is to enable the inclusion of one or more foundation
designs in the Provisional Type Certificate, as selected by
the applicant.

Provision Type Test

Provision type test consist of
** Safety and function test
** Power performance measurements
** Yaw efficiency measurement
** Report on static test of the blade edge-wise and
flap wise

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

PTC Cat. I

PTC Cat . II

PTC Cat. III

Partial Design
Evaluation/Review of
Type Certificate

Partial Design
Evaluation / Review of
Type Certificate

Manufacturing System
Evaluation

Provisional type Test

Manufacturing System
Evaluation

Manufacturing System
Evaluation

Provisional type
Testing

Review of Foundation
Design Requirements

Review of Foundation
Design Evaluation
(optional)

Review of Foundation
Design Requirements

Type Characteristics
Measurement (optional)

Foundation Design
Evaluation (optional)

Foundation Design
Evaluation (optional)

Get A type certificate

within period of 1 year
from the receipt of B type
certificate after completion
of outstanding matters.

Timely
coordination
with
certification
body,
measurement
agencies
and reply to their technical
queries.

Design Evaluation
Certificate

Type Characteristics
Measurement
(optional)

Importance / Significance
of Type Certification

The new supplier of main

components which are procured
as per functional specification
given by turbine manufacturer
need to be added in the turbine
type certificate by listing the new suppliers name in the
design evaluation conformity statement. This involves
submission of design documents related to the main
components. If the main components procured as per the
turbine manufacturer own manufacturing drawing then no
recertification is required in case of new supplier.

The Provisional Type Certification consists of following modules with respect to

categories as mentioned in chart.

Time Drivers of the Certification Process

Time driving elements during the certification process are:
** Design evaluation
** Type testing part

Type Characteristic Measurements

The power quality measurements mainly deal with the
reactive power measurements. The reactive power of the
WT must be recorded according to IEC 61400-21 along
with power performance.
The measurement method is according to the procedure
laid down in Section 7.4 of IEC 61400-21.

Newly released IEC 61400-22 Ed. 1: Wind

turbines Part 22: Conformity testing and
certification
This standard replaces existing IEC WT 01:2001 Edition
system for Conformity Testing and Certification of Wind
Turbines.

Design Evaluation Conformity Statement

The following modules are modified in new IEC 6140022 Ed. 1: Wind Turbines Part 22 Conformity testing and
certification.

Design assessment with some out-standing items.

Type Certification

Design assessment without outstanding items.

1. Foundation manufacturing evaluation

2. Type characteristic measurement (LVRT added)

Validity of Type Certificate

3. Project Certification

B type certificate: valid for 1 year during which period

the outstanding items need to be closed before
applying for A type certificate.

Additional guidelines and requirement of documents have

been issued by NIWE (CWET) and MNRE for consideration
in the prototype certification & type testing process in
addition to above requirements:

A type certificate: valid for 5 years

Constraints in Getting Type Certification

Completion of power curve and load measurements
as per IEC standard due to lack of sufficient data
points related to wind speed (high wind speed) in
given time frame.

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Indian Wind Power

1. Guidelines for installation of prototype wind turbine

models by MNRE vide lettrer no. 66/155/2012-WE
dated 22.05.2012
2. Guidelines for Prototype Wind-Turbine Models Addendum by MNRE vide letter no. 66/155/2012 WE
dated 20.09.2012

25

3. Requirements for installation of prototype wind

turbine model in India by CWET dated 04.06.2012
4. Guidelines on Technical Requirements to be fulfilled
by a Wind Turbine Manufacturer prior to signing
the agreement for Provisional Type Certification with
CWET Technical Note no. CWET:S&C/TN/02/2009
dated 31.12.2009
5. Evaluation of Test Site for Type Testing as per the
Recommendations of Relevant Standards as per CWET
Technical Note no. CWET/TEST/TN/1/2009 dated
21.12.2009
6. Guidelines for Scheduling Activities for Type Testing as
per CWET Technical Note no. CWET/TEST/TN/2/2009
dated 21.12.2009

Effect of Certification Process on Turbine

Quality
It is obvious that turbine size has grown and technology
has become much more sophisticated over the years but
also quality has improved a lot. The more comprehensive
certification process is a basis for a more standardized
design process. This helps the design engineers to follow
a more structured design approach and to focus on
safety to achieve better results. It ensures proper design
documentation control and documentation related to the
various components from the suppliers which results in
better quality product with high reliability and performance.

Time Drivers of the Certification Process

Time driving elements during the certification process are:
Design evaluation.
Type testing part.
Out of experience it is recommended to involve the
certification body from the very beginning (design
conceptual stage) into these activities. Although the
standards like IEC 61400, GL or DNV have been improved
significantly over the last two decades and design
elements, safety factors and way of interpretation of
results have been defined pretty detailed, there is always a
lot of room of discussion how assessment of loads, safety
margins have to be handled. Although the certification
bodies follow the same rules, different experts are focused
on different items of the standards. An early discussion
of definition of Design Load Cases, safety margins for
design of mechanical and structural components, impact
of material factors and also content of documentation for

26

design assessment but also manuals with the certification

body helps to avoid delay and additional calculation
loops during the assessment process. The same is valid
for the measurement campaign and discussion of results
for validation of loads and simulation model, as also
grid models and requirements for Fault-Ride-Through
measurements.
By following this strategy it is much easier for the wind
turbine manufacturer to keep the time-line of a certification
process under control. Nevertheless the impact of the type
testing is in addition mainly depending on site-specific
conditions and number of test sites available. Only on
sites with good wind conditions and stable climate the
measurement campaign will deliver reasonable data sets
in a limited time period. Most locations world-wide are
impacted by seasonable effects, thats why measurement
campaign can easily take 12 to 24 months. This has to be
taken into account when introducing a new product into
the market.

Road Map for Type Testing of Wind Turbine

Models
Request letter to Indian certification body from the
company for taking up type testing.
Submission of Input documents.
Letter of acceptance of the foreign certification body
to engage Indian certification body for type testing.
Discussions between Indian certification body &
company & confirmation of taking up type testing by
Indian certification body and signing of type testing
agreement on following grounds: a. With regard to
the scope of type testing as per requirements of IEC
61400-22 & scope of accreditation of testing and
confirm acceptance in writing from company to Indian
certification Body. b. Evacuation permission (grid
connectivity) required at prototype site.
For other subsequent activities, please refer Time
frame in table Site feasibility Activities (sl.no. 1 to
6), Test Plan finalization activities (sl.no. 1 to 8) &
Test Turbine activities (sl.no. 1 to 6) given on page
nos. 1 and 2 of Indian certification bodys latest
technical note Guidelines for scheduling activities for
type testing document.
The test site may be either customers site or Indian
certification bodys test station.

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

www.windworldindia.com

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Wind World Towers, Plot No. A-9, Veera Industrial Estate, Veera Desai Rd., Andheri (W), Mumbai 400 053, India.
Tel: +91 22 6692 4848 | Email: wwil.marketing@windworldindia.com

Turbine Model WTG . Prototype Testing Cost

Sl. No.

Description

Details

*Amount in LAKHS

NOC Application fee

PER Application / WTG

0.11

NOC Consultancy fee

PER Application / WTG

0.28

Infrastructure Development Charges (IDC)

30 lakh per MW

60.00

O&M charges

1.6 lakh per MW per Year with

5% escalation every year.

1.60

CEIG Approvals

Approximately.

0.50

TNEB Cost

Approximately.

30.00

Land Cost along with development

3 .5 Acres

30.00

Line Cost

2 KM maximum

30.00

Met-mast (2 Nos Inc SCADA logger)

10

Land for mast (one Loc)

11

Others

30.00
1.5 Acres

15.00
2.52

Project Execution Cost

12

600 T cranes Hire from TN Sites

Approximately.
TOTAL

13

25.00
225.00

Including Mobilization 600 T cranes from Approximately.

other sites like MH, GJ
TOTAL

50.00
250.00

* Indicates approximate cost given for reference purposes only

The theme of the next issue of

"Indian Wind Power" is Repowering.
We invite relevant articles to the theme. We solicit your cooperation.
Editor

28

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Supply Chain Management in Wind

Turbine Manufacturing Industry in India
Rajanish Saxena
Assistant Vice President- Sourcing, Regen Powertech Private Limited

The Need for Supply Chain Management

Consider yourself as a soldier fighting with enemy on a
war front and imagine:
When your gun does not fire due to poor quality of
gun or cartridge, while you were face to face with the
enemy
When you are hit & bleeding, no one knows what to
do with you despite their best intentions
You are on a long war and no one knows what do
you need and when - could be anything -food, arms
& ammunition, medical attention
You are asked to move ahead with a pistol in hand to
kill your enemy and to your horror you find that your
enemy is not one man but a platoon equipped with all
sort of arms & ammunition
"Necessity is the mother of invention". While facing many
situations as above, the military think tank created a term
Logistics Management during World War-II, which has
later been re-defined as Supply Chain Management.

Key to success
** Speed to fulfill what customer wants
** Customer satisfaction (delight comes next)
Focus Customer
Derived benefits
** Shareholders delight
It is an ideal theoretical concept which each organization
needs to customize with no standard thumb rules.

Objectives & Benefits

Unification of all functions
Expectations,
deliverables,
accountabilities,
responsibilities, inputs & outputs from each and every
link of chain are well defined.
Smooth flow of information
Accurate Management Information Service (MIS) to

As we wear shoes of a soldier, we realise that unless all

activities from start to end are not bound as a unit by a
single chain, it may be very difficult to survive. This teaches
us the importance of Supply Chain and its management is
basically called Supply Chain Management.

** Take decisions

If we look at it seriously we may conclude that it is nothing

but common sense with little science and discipline applied.

** Reduce time, which is also money

Now lets try to run through this little bit of science which
we could apply to make better use of our common sense!

The Concept
Like a relay race
Everyone is buyer for someone & customer for
someone
Every stage carries out value addition or else why
should the stage exist?
Starts with obtaining order from final customer
Ranges from end customer to first supplier and the
environment

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Indian Wind Power

** Reduce costs & hence increase profits and in

some cases even stay competitive
** Optimize resources

Supply Chain is equivalent to nervous system of human

body. Till it operates smoothly it is taken for granted. Its
importance is known once it collapses but by that time the
damages would have been done. Hence understanding
Supply Chain gives an edge to decision making.

The Wind Turbine Manufacturing Industry in

India
The Wind business model in India is turnkey based as against
broken specific supplies in west. Most of the organisations
are total solution providers. Hence the wind turbine
manufacturers have to cover all the activities starting from
wind mapping to operations and maintenance work. The
activities in wind industry business include:

29

Production Model of Wind Turbines

a. Wind Mapping and Monitoring

** Selection of potential sites and analysis
** Micro Siting and Computation of Probable Energy
Outputs
b. Project Development
** Contour and plain table survey and Acquisition
of Land
** Project feasibility legal/commercial/financial

Construction

and

** Manufacture and Supply of WECs

** Infrastructure development
** Erection, Commissioning and Interfacing

d. Lifetime Operations and Maintenance

** 24X7 Operation and Maintenance of the WECs
metering

and

** Online performance reporting

e. Additional Services
The following additional services are also provided such as
**
**
**
**
**

Power Marketing, Billing and Collections

Comprehensive all inclusive fixed cost contracts
Regulatory Compliances
Relationship Management
Financing and Tax Advisory Services
i. Assistance in arranging finance for the
projects
ii. Advice on tax planning

Erection of Wind Turbine

Erection of Wind Turbine is an important activity. For ease
of understanding and handing, it can be classified into
seven major levels as written below in sequence:

30

Civil Work & Foundation

Tower
Generator
Electrical Controllers
Mechanical Assembly
Blade
Installation Site materials

** Lattice can go up to 160 m, takes longer time

for erection, tough to maintain.

** Concrete limited technology, goes up to 110 m,

is cost effective over 100m height

** SCADA systems - remote monitoring

inspection,

The choices for the type of tower are:

** Steel Tubular usually in range of 85-90 m

height but people have gone up to 100m, fastest
erection time (8-9 hours Vs days for other type)

** Construction of evacuation systems

** Annual electrical
calibration

a. Foundation: One can have its own team or outsource

the work to a contractor. This is not a core area of a
wind turbine manufacturer so outsourcing is becoming
a trend now.
b. Tower:

** All related governmental and legal clearances

c. Engineering,
Procurement,
Commissioning

Assuming that the wind turbine technology and design

is available, the first question arises is make or buy. The
inputs are as below:

** Hybrid goes up to 140~150 m height, can have

hybrid of Lattice + Tubular Steel OR Concrete +
Tubular Steel
Comparing the Type of Towers at 100 meter Height
** Cost (ascending): Lattice-Concrete-Hybrid-Tubular
Steel
** Erection Time (indicative): Lattice (1 week)
Concrete (3 days) Hybrid (3-4 days) Tubular
Steel (8-9 hours)
** One has the option to buy readymade tower or
supply raw material and get it fabricated on job
work basis.
** Since the raw material content is very high, most
of the tower manufacturers in India prefer that
steel plates are supplied to them and they do
conversion on job work basis to reduce their
capital deployment.
c. Generator:
Choices between Make or Buy are available.
However this is a very strategic decision in long
run.
It is seen that usually companies which use large
size synchronous generators have preferred to
make them in-house
d. Nacelle and Hub:
As a standard practice components are bought
and assembly is made in-house by most of the
companies.

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

 From the perspective of supply chain management

a company buying electrical boxes from outside
deals with about 400~500 components as
against a company which makes everything inhouse which handles close to 2000 components.
e. Electrical Control Panels and Frequency Converters:
Choices are available between making in-house
to buying readymade.
Usually it is preferred to have own design because
buying an entire panel as a black box with design
and technology proves to be a costly affair in long
run when maintenance, repairs and modifications
are required to be made.
If one buys readymade boxes, the numbers are
handful. In case one decides to make in-house,
this activity itself becomes a huge supply chain
activity asking for over 1300 components
f. Blades the designs of blades are now available Off
the Shelf and it is no more an item of monopoly. The
choices are
Make in-house needs to deploy capital. Helps
in maintaining costs and quality including repairs.
Decision making is strategic in long term.
Buy readymade - options are available and
decision making is mostly commercial.

Categories of Purchases/Contracts
There are following categories of purchases and contracts
in wind turbine installations:
1. Off the shelf readymade item
2. Item from existing range of supplies from a supplier
with little modifications
3. Design given by buyer and item manufactured by
supplier tailor made item
4. Application given by buyer and design, manufacturing
and supplies made by supplier
5. Raw material purchases
6. Commodity purchases copper, steel, cement
7. Project specific purchases include subcontracting
Power Evacuation
** Sub Station (layout is usually given by wind
turbine company)
** EHV, HV lines
** Unit Transformer yards
Foundation
Erection and Commissioning

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Indian Wind Power

Importance of Supply Chain Management in

Wind Turbine Industry
The Wind Turbine Industry is in transition from infrastructure
type of processes to automotive kind of processes. At a
time people used to talk about cycle times of production in
terms of months and weeks in wind turbine industry and
now industry talks in hours. Quantities are small but costs
are exorbitant. Multiple activities take place simultaneously
while setting up a wind farm and they all need to merge
at a same time to yield desired results. Most common
problem faced is like crane waiting for material to reach
site. The quantum of monetary loss in crane waiting for
one day is a six digit figure. There are many such loose
ends which needs to be tightened.

Challenges Being Faced in Supply Chain

It took WTG manufacturers years to realize that having a
good technology or mere having an excellent production
facility to manufacture wind turbine and components is
no guarantee that the organization will flourish. So for a
change, we will have a look at challenges from delivery
end.
Land, Right of Way, Evacuation These activities
definitely getting tougher and complex with time. Now
smart organizations are realizing their importance and
treating them as one would treat an item of the Bill
of Material.
Payments and Cash Flows The average working
capital cycle time in the industry is well over 180 days
at the moment. The receivables get due in 180 days
as against payables which get due between 30 to 60
days. This means 3 times more funds are required and
this must continue till complete one year of sales get
into rotation. With restricted funding and high cost
of borrowing life is getting tougher. Definitely the
payments are getting delayed.
High Costs of Finance Just imagine if I have to
borrow at 10% and give credit to my customer, what
will I do? Nothing comes free in this world so I will
add it in my sales price. Taxes and duties automatically
multiply and get added due to this cost addition. Then
we have tough lending rules and how many are able
to get desired funding at 10%? Cash credit rates are
hovering between 12% in best cases to beyond 16%
in worst cases. All these are adding to the costs of
material and projects.
Funds are Dictating Quantum of Purchases Surprisingly
it is not the confirmed orders but ones capacity to
organise funds which is dictating how much does one
buy against its schedules.

31

 Inability of Supply Chain to Deal in Least Possible Lot

Sizes in the situation when one has to match over
500 types of items to make and sell one wind turbine,
and funds are rare commodity, it is very critical that
the supply chain starts dealing in smallest possible
supply lot sizes so that same funds can be utilized to
buy more type of items and rotated fast as against
blocking major kitty in top few items.
Lack of Flexibility among European and American
Suppliers Ask to change sea shipment into air
shipment or 20 sets into 5 sets and our European
and American suppliers find it hard to adjust. The
key lies in making agreements with them for smallest
possible lots so they can design their packing and
documentation accordingly.
The Supply Chain Capacities For ease of understanding,
a monthly capacity of 100 calculates to 1200 sets
per year. However, if first six months purchases are
mere 200 sets, next 6 months demand 1000/6 i.e.
166 per month. The capacities are not available and
firefighting starts. Efforts are made to first buy at
premium and then next develop additional capacities.
Additional capacity means capital investment. After
an investment is made, demand comes down after
six months and people who invested in additional
capacities do not get desired business. The cycle gets
repeated after few years.
The OEMs have to deal with all the above situations and
manage their business successfully.

What Different Can Be Done

We are in the commercial world and everyone is here to
get returns on investment. With so many challenges up
our sleeves it needs a different approach to tackle the
challenges. Some of these approaches may be defined as
below:
a. Develop Long Term Honest Relations: Usually, it is seen
that when market goes up, whole chain starts jumping
to increase prices, but when market falls reciprocation
is not done automatically.
b. Standardization of Components/Input Material Across
Various Wind Turbine Models Let us understand
this with an example. Almost every wind turbine
manufacturer uses tubular steel tower. The process to
manufacture these towers is more or less the same.
The basic input is hot rolled flat steel plate. Raw
material and inspection methods are also almost same.
Each tower requires about 20 to 30 plates of various
dimensions and no two companies have even 10%
common plates. Imagine if some of the companies
come together and re-design their towers so as to
keep 70%-80% of the plates as common, these plates
would become a tradable commodity. It will be easily

32

available, people would stock it comfortably and prices

will also drop. There are forums from point of view
of sales and policies. People are coming together to
influence external factors after probably realizing the
power of unity. Why cant our own houses be fixed
first? Why dont we have supply chain forum at least
for wind turbine fraternity?
c. Make Consortium of Buyers making consortium
of buyers will provide economies of scale wherever
individual volumes are less. A regional hub will also
open opportunities for interested suppliers to relocate
nearby to supply points because the consortium of
buyers may provide them with enough volumes to
make investments.
d. Use Common Service under a Pool Company A sends
its TQM Engineer to Korea and Company B also send
its TQM Engineer to same company in Korea. Both
do same work for their companies. Why cant it be
shared? A penny saved is penny earned.
e. Benchmarking Why cant we all create a benchmarking
system. Entire industry needs it. It will help some of us
to make initial improvements and I am sure very soon
we may have a global benchmarking system available
for wind industry. The basic stages for benchmarking
are more or less same and we are no different. Lets
have a look at them:
** Incapable Inefficient
** Effective Satisfies basics
** Efficient Meets requirements as designed
** Best in Class Outperforms all competitors and
has clear competitive edge
** World Class Recognized as the best.
Benchmarked by others even in other sectors
f. Flexibility: Typical benefits of an effective supply chain
are as below:
Reduction in total logistics costs as a percentage of
revenue (material acquisition, order management,
inventory costs and finance/IT support)
Reduction in order-fulfillment lead time
Reduction in inventory
Improvement in meeting commitment dates.
Indian Wind Turbine Supply Chain is bogged down by
ambitious forecasting and poor cash flows. If our Supply
Chain gets flexible and obtains the ability to operate
in smaller volume lots and within shorter lead times,
the risks involved with long term ambitious forecasting
can be mitigated. Rest of the benefits will fall in place
automatically.

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

g. Management of Receivable and Payables: Most of time

is spent in following up for receivables and payables.
Unfortunately this is one grey area which is never
taught in any of the management books. One of the
reasons could be gap in payable and receivable cycles.
Why cant we accept it and re-design our payable/
receivable cycles which industry can adhere to. In any
case nothing comes free and if any one member of
supply chain suffers a loss, thats not a sustainable
situation in long run. It is a matter of time before
that association collapses. To understand easily, if the
project realization is taking 180 days, let the payment

cycles match the same and costs could be worked out.

This will mitigate the risk of delayed payments causing
delayed raw material procurement resulting in delayed
supplies against committed schedules.

Conclusion
It is evident that supply chain in wind industry has its own
pros and cons but it is no different than any other industry
at macro level. Same rules apply here too. The only need is
to have accurate forecasts and adherence to commitments
made.

Proactive Government Policy can Double Wind Energy Market Instantly: Gamesa

Snippets on Wind Power

Spanish energy major company Gamesa has pointed out that a proactive government policy on wind energy
could instantly double the market for wind energy generation, from 2500 MW to 5000 MW, in the country.
The market leader in wind turbine manufacturing in the country is also planning to invest over 100 million
Euros in India in the next five years. Gamesa Groups Executive Chairman Ignacio Martin said to reporters while
inaugurating a new production line for their 2 MW turbine in Mamandur near Chennai that it was a good sign
that the new government has landed a much needed political stability for sustained growth in the country. But
a proactive government policy is needed if the sector is to expand to its full potential.

Ministry of Power for Changes in Renewable Energy Obligations

The Ministry of Power will soon approach the Cabinet with a proposal to introduce stringent rules for buyers
and sellers of renewable energy, besides making amendments to the provisions in the overall tariff policy. On
similar lines, the government is contemplating the RGO (Renewable Generation Obligation), which will make it
compulsory for thermal power producers to also generate electricity through renewables. The changes in the
tariff policy are also being looked at in order to provide for long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), trying
to provide intermediary companies to make such PPAs more bankable considering the poor health of several
discoms. The government may even bring in an entity which provides bankability, confidence to financers that
their money is secure through the intermediary who purchases the power that is generated and puts it into the
grid. The move will bring down the interest cost and lead to certainty in the system.

Railways to Set up 26 MW Wind Farm

Railways, the biggest consumers of energy, is moving towards harnessing green power with a 26 MW windmill
proposed to be built in Rajasthan. The project, the biggest renewable energy initiative by the national transporter,
is to be set up in Jaisalmer at a cost of Rs 150 crore and is targeted to be completed in about nine months.

First Bus Running on Bio-methane from Human Poop Launched in UK

The first bus in the United Kingdom made its maiden voyage, powered by bio-methane from human poop and
food waste. The 40-seater Bio-Bus made a trip from Bristol Airport to the famous historic city of Bath. It runs
off of bio-methane gas generated at Bristols sewage treatment plant, operated by GENeco. The company was
the first in the UK to churn local sewage into a steady stream of reliable fuel. GENeco says the bus can run
186 miles (300 km) on a full tank of gas while producing 30% fewer emissions than conventional diesel buses.

34

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Know Your Wind Energy State Gujarat - A Snapshot

Compiled by Mr. Nitin Raikar, Suzlon Energy Limited, Mumbai
(rnitin@suzlon.com)

Overall Power Scenario

(as of 31 Mar 2014 & figures in MW)
Total installed capacity (all energy sources)

27647.26

Thermal (Coal+Gas+Diesel)

21885.74

Nuclear

559.32

Hydro

772.00

RE Capacity (Grid connected)

4430.20

Wind Resource
Topography & Climate
State brief :
Gujarat is located on the west coast of India surrounded by
the Arabian Sea in the West, Rajasthan in the North and
North-East, Madhya Pradesh in the East and Maharashtra in
the South and South East. It is situated between 201' and
247' north latitudes and 684' and 744'east longitudes.
The state has the longest coastline of about 1600 km. The
state has three distinct geographical regions a corridor,
which is the industrial mainland; a peninsula, known as
Saurashtra, and Kutch, which is partly desert and partly
marshland. Gujarat has varied climatic conditions. The
north-western part is mostly dry due to the desert areas
while the southern region is moist due to heavy rainfall
during the monsoon season. The southern districts receive
maximum rainfall, making it suitable for vegetation. The
northern region is dry because of the adjoining desert. The
Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Cambay make the weather
pleasant. Areas like Kutch, Jamnagar, Panchmahals and
Mehsana fall in the rain shadow region and thus receive
little rainfall. The overall climate of the state is extreme due
to the variation in topography.

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Indian Wind Power

(Data as of 31 Mar 2014)

Installable Potential as
per CWET

10609 MW at 50m
Hub Height
35071 MW at 80m
Hub Height

Total Nos of
established Wind
Monitoring stations
and data recorded by
CWET

81

Number of operational
CWET wind monitoring
stations recording data

13

Stations with Annual

41 (exclusive of masts
Average WPD > 200 W/
who are yet to complete
sqm extrapolated at 50
one year of operation)
m height
Key Windy Regions

Kutch & Saurashtra

Region (notably the
coastal belts)

Key Windy Districts

(having installation
track record)

Jamnagar, Kutch,
Porbandar, Rajkot,
Bhavnagar

35

Wind Installation Statistics

(Data as of 31 Mar 2014)
Cumulative installed capacity (MW) 3453.90
Govt Demonstration Projects (MW)

17.84

Banking
(for captive)
Reactive Power
Charges

Private & PSU Sector Projects (MW) 3436.06

State Ranking in Wind Installation

# 2nd (after
Tamilnadu)

% of Wind Installations w.r.t all 12.49%

energy
% of Wind Installations w.r.t RE 77.96%
sources

Green Statistics

Renewable
Purchase
Obligation
Prevailing
APPC Rate
CDM Sharing

(Data as of 31 Mar 2014)

Million tones of CO2 emissions
7.1 million tonnes
offset by Wind Energy in the state
(p.a)
Million tones of Coal savings by
Wind Energy in the state (p.a)

5.4 million tonnes

Wind Policy - Salient Features

Policy
References

Feed in Tariff
(Sale to EB)
Third Party
Sale of Power
HT Industrial/
Commercial
Tariff (for
captive)
PPA Tenure
Wheeling
charges

GoG Wind Power Policy 2013: GR No.

EDA-102001-3054-B dtd. 25 July 2013
GERC Final Tariff Order dated 07 Jan
2013
Rs 4.15 per unit flat for 25 years (WEGs
commissioned on (or) after 08 Aug
2013 till 31 Mar 2016)
Allowed (but not entitled for banking)

Electricity Duty
(for captive)

36

GEB will charge 5 Paisa per unit for

wheeling at more than 2 locations
Rs 2721/MW/per day for FY 14-15
Wheeling of wind energy for third
party sale and captive use shall be
exempted from cross subsidy charge
Exempted for 25 years (15% - Industrial
& 25% - Commercial) however ED
applicable for TP Sale

Rs 2.64/kWh
First year generator will get full 100%
and thereafter 10% incremental
sharing yearly till sixth year when both
Generator & DISCOM will share on a
50:50 basis.
All wind projects to submit day ahead
schedule to SLDC and share real time
data with SLDC

Regulatory Agencies & State Utilities

Govt
Gujarat Electricity Regulatory
Regulatory &
Commission (GERC)
Nodal Agencies Gujarat Energy Development Agency
(GEDA)
State Utilities

Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd.

(Holding Company)
Gujarat State Electricity Corp. Ltd.
(Generation)
Gujarat Energy Transmission
Corp. Ltd. (Transmission)
Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Ltd.
(Distribution)
Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Ltd.
(Distribution)
Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Ltd.
(Distribution)
Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Ltd.
(Distribution)

Private Utilities

Torrent Power

Rs 4.25 - Rs 4.55 (Base tariff); ED + Fuel

Surcharge would vary (Fuel Surcharge
Base rate Approved by GERC: 0.60/
kWh, Fuel Surcharge as on date :
` 1.10 /unit)
25 years
For 66kV and above drawl : Transmission
loss approved by GERC time to time
For drawl Below 66 kV : 7% for one
WTG and 10% for more than one WTG

Open Access
Charges
Cross subsidy
Charges

Scheduling of
Wind power

One month and surplus units will be

sold to Board @ 85% of the PPA rate
10 paise / kvarh (if reactive power
drawal is upto 10% of net energy
generated)
25 paise /kvarh (if reactive power
drawal is more than 10% of net energy
generated)
6.25% RPO (Wind) / 1.25% (Solar) /
0.5% (Others) specified for FY 14-15

Miscellaneous Factoids
Project
Commencement
Year

Asia's first Wind Power Project was

commissioned at Mandvi (Kutch)
in the year 1986. The Project
comprised of 2 X 110 kW m/cs of
MICON M100 Make & 14 X 55
kW m/cs of MICON M55/11 make.
The total Project capacity of this
Demonstration Project amounted
to 990 kW (0.90 MW).

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Snippets on Wind Power

Draft Renewable Energy Bill
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is
planning to roll out the first draft of the Renewable
Energy Bill within a months time. This comes in light
of the ambitious three-month timeline the ministry
has given itself to finalise the legislation. The need
for a separate act governing renewable energy was
felt in light of the investment crunch the sector is
facing owing to ambiguity in the governing policies.
A technical committee is working on it and they are
likely to get back to us with the first draft of the
legislation in 20-25 days. After that it will be put
out for inviting suggestions and objections from all
stakeholders including the state governments.

ReGen Focuses on R&D and Market Centric

Innovations
ReGen is working towards empowering its wind
business by focusing on development of higher rating
wind turbines and understanding different options to
complement wind centric business. ReGen is looking
Wind and solar as complementing technologies.
ReGen wanted to complement wind focused business
with a suitable technology to provide a real alternative
to conventional sources of energy.

IREDA to Raise Rs 1,500 Crore via Tax-Free

Bonds Next Fiscal
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency
(IREDA), the governments dedicated green energy
financing institution, is planning to raise Rs 1,500
crores next fiscal through issuance of tax-free bonds in
order to support the Centres ambitious clean energy
targets running into hundreds of gigawatts. Over
the next three years, the agency expects to lend Rs
14,000-16,000 crore, as much as what it has disbursed
over the past 28 years of its existence, owing to the
targets and the growing interest of investors in the
clean energy business.
Source: The Economic Times

Global Consultancy Firms Step-up Focus on

Consulting for Indian Renewable Energy
Companies
With the strong push from the Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi and an increase in activity in sunrise

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Indian Wind Power

sectors like wind and solar power in India, large

consultancy firms like Accenture or Boston Consulting
Group is setting sight on consulting for the renewable
energy space. Global consulting firms who have had
little or no presence in renewable energy consulting in
India are ramping up their work after seeing growth
in revenues coming in from the sector.
Source: Times of India

Govt. for up to ` 1 crore Penalty on Entities

Violating Electricity Act
Seeking to make penal provisions more stringent in
the power sector, the government has proposed
imposing up to ` 1 crore fine on entities violating
norms under the Electricity Act. The proposed penalty
limit would be a steep jump as it is just ` 1 lakh under
the existing provision. According to the government,
a penalty that could run up to ` 1 crore would be
slapped on entities found not to be complying with
any orders or directions given under the Electricity Act.
The provision is part of various amendments proposed
by the government to the Electricity Act, 2003.
Source: Live Mint

Electricity Bill Focuses on Renewable

Energy
The Electricity Amendment Bill 2014, introduced in
the Lok Sabha lays strong emphasis on promoting
renewable energy generation in the country while also
aiming at increasing accountability and transparency
in the functioning of regulatory bodies. For the first
time, the Bill, introduced by Power Minister Shri
Piyush Goyal, proposes to make it mandatory for any
company establishing lignite and coal-based thermal
power plants, to generate renewable energy. While
the amount of renewable energy to be generated by
such plants will be decided later, the Bill proposes it
to be not less than 10 percent of the total installed
capacity of a thermal plant.
Source: Business Line

Wind Power Industry Ending 2014 on a

High Note
Assured of governments backing, the Indian wind
power industry is ending the year on a high note,
but also with a problem it would not be unhappy

37

with meeting the stiff targets set by the government.

India has taken nearly a quarter century to create
wind power capacity of 22,200 MW. But now, Power
Minister Piyush Goyal wants the industry to ramp up
installations, so that the capacity additions in 2018-19
are 10,000 MW. The most the industry added in any
year was 3,168 MW in 2011-12.
Source: Business Line

Amendment in Electricity Act,

Presented in Parliament

2003

The amendment to Electricity Act, 2003 was presented

in the parliament on 19th December 2014. It is
expected that this amendment will bring about big
reforms in the electricity sector. The Government had
earlier expressed its intention of bringing amendment
in the Electricity Act, 2003 along with the introduction
of the Renewable Energy Act.

Maharashtra to Launch Integrated Policy

for Renewable Sector
To reduce the states carbon footprint and give a
boost to the renewable energy sector, Maharashtra
government has decided to come up with an
Integrated Policy for Renewable Sector in the New
Year. The state government has roped in experts from
various sectors to give their inputs to the team incharge of making the draft of the policy.
Source: Business Standard

National Wind Mission among New NAPCC

Missions
To broaden Indias response to climate change, the
government will soon add at least four new Missions
to the National Action Plan on Climate Change
(NAPCC), including one to promote wind energy, and
another to build preparedness to deal with impacts on
human health. The Wind Mission is likely to be given
an initial target of producing about 50,000-60,000
MW of power by the year 2022, the year when the
13th Five Year Plan will come to an end. Already,
there is about 22,000 MW of installed capacity of
wind energy in the country. Like the Solar Mission,
the Wind Mission will be serviced by the Ministry of
New and Renewable Energy.
Source: Indian Express

38

India Plans $5 Billion Green Energy Funds

For energy security, as part of its blueprint the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) government plans to float
five funds of $5 billion each, targeted at promoting
green energy sources. Indias Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy (MNRE) plans to get the help of
state-owned and private sector financial institutions
such as Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC), Rural
Electrification Corporation Ltd (REC), Indian Renewable
Energy Development Agency (IREDA), IFCI Ltd, SBI
Capital Markets Ltd and ICICI Bank Ltd to create a
corpus of $25 billion.
Source: The Economic Times

Suzlon to Set Up 3000 MW Renewable

Energy Projects in Gujarat
Pune-based Suzlon Group has announced its plans to
invest ` 24,000 crore over the next 5 years on energy
projects to generate 3,000 MW in Gujarat. This will
also mark the foray of Suzlon in solar energy. Tulsi
Tanti, chairman, Suzlon Group, said that the company
will be setting up 2,000 MW of on-land wind capacity,
500 MW of offshore wind capacity and 500 MW of
solar capacity. The offshore capacity will come up
5-10km off the Kutch coast.
Source: Times of India

Government will need to Invest Rs 15.70

lakh cr for 24x7 Power Supply by 2018-19:
Report
The government will need to invest Rs 15.70 lakh
crore to provide 24x7 power supply to all consumers,
according to a panel report. A sub group appointed
by the Forum of Regulators (FOR) has said that
around 1,280 billion units (BUs) will be needed to
service the 24x7 requirements. The panel was headed
by Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission
Chairperson Shri Sreenivasa Murthy. The cost of
servicing this capital works out to Rs 1.59 per unit.
Subtracting the transmission losses, which should go
down to 17.5% by 2018-19, the tariff should come
down by 50 paise, bringing down the capital cost to
Rs 1.09 per unit.

Snippets Compiled by:

Shri Abhijit Kulkarni
General Manager, SKF India Ltd. Pune
and IWTMA Team

Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Photo Feature

Launch of
Indian Wind Energy Alliance

Hon.
Minister
of
State
with
Independent
Charge
for
Power,
Coal and New & Renewable Energy
Sri Piyush Goyal (in centre) being
received by Sri Sumant Sinha, Chairman,
IWEA and Sri Madhusudan Khemka,
Vice Chairman of IWEA and Chairman of
IWTMA

Sri Sumant Sinha, Chairman, IWEA

welcoming the Hon. Minister

Shri Piyush Goyal, the Honble Minister of State with

Independent Charge for Power, Coal and New & Renewable
Energy, Government of India launched the Indian Wind Energy
Alliance (IWEA) on 3rd December 2014 at New Delhi.
IWEA is a consortium of the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers
Association (IWTMA) and the Wind Independent Power
Producers Association (WIPPA), the two leading trade bodies
representing respectively the manufacturing and investing or
customer side of the wind business. The objective behind the
formation of this alliance is to promote and protect the interests
of all stakeholders of the wind energy industry including wind
energy producers, investors, manufacturers, component makers
and other stakeholders. It will provide a pan India forum, create
an atmosphere of cooperation and address various issues
faced by the wind energy stakeholders working closely with
the government to achieve the target of 10 GW of new wind
installations every year.
Present at the occasion, Shri Piyush Goyal said, There is need
to enhance wind power development in the country, and
the government will provide all the necessary support to the
industry to achieve the target of 10,000 MW of wind power
installations every year. The formation of IWEA will not only
benefit the Wind Energy Industry as a whole but also partner
with the Government in fulfilling Honble Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modis vision to bring power to every home by 2019.
Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Sumant Sinha, the first Chairman
of IWEA and Chairman and CEO of ReNew Power, said, The
potential of the wind sector in India is far greater than what
is currently being projected and the formation of IWEA will
provide an impetus to the wind energy industry by establishing

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

Indian Wind Power

Hon. Minister launching IWEA

and assisting scientific laboratories, workshops, institutes and

organization in the Wind Energy Industry. There is a lot of scope
for the wind energy sector to grow in India and Governments
support is critical to achieving the national objectives especially
given the governments renewed interest on wind and other
renewables.
Wind energy is poised to contribute substantially to Indias
energy security as its generation has almost tripled during the
last 6 years. IWEA is determined to work with communities,
the government, and member organisations to ensure that
the national ambitions are realized. The formation of this apex
body for the Wind Energy Industry will further attract more
private sector investments and contribute to the economy by
job creation in rural areas, said Mr. Madhusudan Khemka, Vice
Chairman, IWEA and Managing Director of ReGen Powertech
Private Limited.
Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association (IWTMA) is an
association formed to promote and harness wind energy for
an all inclusive sustained growth-now and in the future. The
association is over 15 years old with 18 members consisting of
OEMs and component manufacturers representing more than
90% of Indian wind energy installations.
Wind Independent Power Producers Association (WIPPA) is a
national body representing all the major IPPs operating in wind
industry in India. The primary goal of the Association is to
bring together all the important players, including government
officials and multi-lateral agencies on a common platform to
discuss generic issues and resolve problems that may hinder the
progress and development of projects in the Indian Wind energy
sector. Presently it is a 30 member strong association and they
have been the key investors in the wind industry across the
country. The collective investment of all the members in this
sector has so far been around Rs 25,000 crores and members
are expected to invest another Rs 70,000 crores during the
12th Plan Period. Members have an operating capacity of over
4,500 MW as on date spread across different states.

39

Know Your Member

Inox Wind Limited

Inox Wind is a fully integrated player in the wind energy market with state of the art manufacturing
plants near Ahmedabad (Gujarat) for Blades & Tubular Towers and at Una (Himachal Pradesh)
for Hubs & Nacelles. Inox Wind manufactures the key components to ensure high quality, most
advanced technology, reliability and cost competitiveness. Inox WTGs are designed for low wind
speed sites of India.

Mr. Devansh Jain

Director, Inox Wind Ltd

Mr. Devansh Jain is Director of Inox Wind Limited since April 25, 2009. He has work experience
in various management positions across the Inox Group, which he has been spear heading the
company since its inception in FY 2010. The company successfully started its turbine, blade and
tower manufacturing units in 2010 and is already amongst the leading and fastest growing wind
turbine manufacturers in the country. Under his supervision, INOX Wind Limited has obtained an ISO
9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, OHSAS 18001 and ISO 3834 certification for its management systems
pertaining to manufacturing, installation, commissioning and O&M of wind turbines. INOX Wind
WTGs are C-WET (part of MNRE) approved and Type Certified by TUV Sud. Mr. Jain has completed
a double major degree in Economics and Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University,
Pittsburgh, USA.

An Excellent View of a Windfarm

Blades Ready to be Dispatched

Blades Ready to get the

Finishing Touch

Engineers at Work

Engineers Working on Hubs

Rohika Tower Plant

A Blade being transported to the

Windfarm Site

The Making of a Tower

Workshop where
Nacelles get prepared

Printed by R.R. Bharath and published by Dr. Rishi Muni Dwivedi on behalf of Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association
and printed at Ace Data Prinexcel Private Limited, 3/304 F, (SF No. 676/4B), Kulathur Road, Off NH 47 Bye Pass Road,
Neelambur, Coimbatore 641062 and published at Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association, Fourth Floor, Samson Towers,
No. 403 L, Pantheon Road, Egmore, Chennai 600 008.
Editor: Dr. Rishi Muni Dwivedi

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Indian Wind Power

Dec. 2014 -Jan. 2015

At ReGen Powertech, we believe that simpicity is everything. Our

technology partner Vensys Energy AG, Germany, a world leader in
Wind Energy Converter design and development enables us to
offer turbines that are highly advanced yet to simple.

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The V87 is a fine example of ReGen Powertechs expertise and

commitment to offering turbines that are highly efficient, reliable
and low maintenance.

NO WONDER WE HAVE CONFIDENCE OF

WORLD CLASS IPP CLIENTS

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Samson Tower, 403L, Pantheon Road, Egmore, Chennai 600 008. Tel: +91 44 3023 0200, Fax: +91 44 30230298/99.
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www.regenpowertech.com
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designed & printed @ acedata, Coimbatore