INOX Wind aims to lower cost of generating electricity

INOX Wind aims to lower cost of generating electricity“Our aim is to become the preferred supplier of wind power solutions and cater to the majority of wind IPPs, corporate and distribution utilities,” emphasises Devansh Jain, Director, INOX Wind Ltd.INOX Wind, a fully integrated player in the wind energy market, is one of the largest wind turbine manufacturers in the country. INOX Wind has manufacturing plants for key components like blades, towers, hubs and nacelles which ensure high quality, most advanced technology, reliability and cost competitiveness. Devansh Jain talks about its strategy in becoming the preferred wind power solutions provider.INOX as a group has a presence across diverse businesses, including industrial gases, refrigerants, chemicals, carbon credits, cryogenic engineering and entertainment. What encouraged you to venture in to wind power business?In 2006, unlike today, the wind energy industry in India was not that attractive. Way back then, developed countries in Europe and USA had announced mandatory renewable purchase obligation (RPO) targets. At that time, our group company, Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd., became one of the world’s first projects to generate carbon credits. The company was closely associated with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Climate Change Task Force and a lot of other global bodies in climate change.Although on a per-capita, India was not very polluting, but as a country it was one of the most polluting countries globally. The INOX Group saw the writing on the wall that renewable energy would have to play a key role in the future. That is when we decided to diversify into the wind energy business.GFL mandated McKinsey & Company to carry out a diversification study and jointly developed an implementation plan for the sector. INOX Wind was formed to manufacture turbines in India, and INOX Renewables Ltd. was formed to invest in renewable energy as an IPP.Brief us about the services and solutions you provide in the wind power sector.INOX Wind is a fully integrated player in the wind energy market. By last year, it was the 4th largest wind turbine manufacturer in the country. INOX Wind has manufacturing plants for key components like blades, towers, hubs and nacelles which ensure high quality, most advanced technology, reliability and cost competitiveness. INOX Wind WTGs are equipped with DFIG (Double Fed Induction Generator) technology and have one of the largest rotor diameters (93 m) in its class, and the turbines are Type III which are suitable for Indian climatic conditions and low wind sites.INOX Wind offers turnkey solutions for the entire wind power project from concept to commissioning. These include wind assessment, arrangement of land and power evacuation (sub stations and power lines), infrastructure development, all statutory approvals, supply of WTGs, civil works, erection and commissioning, and long-term operation and maintenance of wind farms.INOX Wind aims to be a ‘fully integrated wind energy player in India’. Could you explain about your current operations and future expansion plans? INOX Wind has two manufacturing facilities: an 800 MW plant in Himachal Pradesh for nacelles and hubs, and a 500 MW unit in Gujarat for rotor blades and towers. These units are spread across 17 acres and 32 acres of land respectively and were commissioned in 2010 at a combined investment of more than Rs. 2 billion. The company plans to enhance its blade and tower manufacturing capacity to 800 MW. This, however, is subject to the right policies impetus being provided for the growth for the wind sector.What are your short- and long-term strategies in achieving this goal?Our aim is to become the preferred supplier of wind power solutions and cater to the majority of wind IPPs, corporate and distribution utilities. Our short-term strategy in achieving this goal is to offer wind projects in states preferred by customers, based on conducive state polices and remunerative tariffs. Our long-term strategy is to lower the cost of generating electricity by manufacturing more efficient turbines. We also aim to spread our wings across a larger number of states.

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