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R. Balaji
N. Ramakrishnan

Workers inspecting the nacelle of a wind turbine manufactured at the NEG Micon's plant at Sholinganallur, in Chennai. - - Bijoy Ghosh

Chennai, July 11

WITH the growth in the wind energy sector, NEG Micon (India) Pvt. Ltd expects its turnover to go up to Rs 800-1,000 crore next year (calendar year). This year, it expects to end with a turnover of Rs 500 crore, which itself is a jump from about Rs 300 crore it recorded last year.

A major part of the turnover this year would come from domestic sales, while exports were expected to contribute to about 35 per cent next year, company officials told Business Line. Earlier, the company had said domestic sales and exports would contribute equally to the turnover this year.

That did not happen as the company had to gear itself for the large volumes required for the export market, said Mr Ramesh Kymal, Managing Director, NEG Micon (India). "This year, we are going to confine ourselves to about Rs 50-crore of exports. Next year, we expect 35 per cent (of turnover) from exports," he said.

NEG Micon (India), a fully owned subsidiary of NEG Micon A/S of Denmark, had set up a plant at a cost of Rs 20 crore at Sholinganallur, on the southern outskirts of Chennai. At the time of inaugurating the Chennai plant in January last, the company had announced that the plant would be the global base for wind turbines up to one MW.

Mr Kymal said the anticipated increase in turnover would come from the growing demand from those wanting to put up windmills for captive consumption in Tamil Nadu, where mainly the textile industry was going in for windmills in a big way. Nearly 18-20 per cent of the input cost was power cost and with grid power cost going up, it made sense for the sector to go in for windmills. The cost of installation worked out to Rs 4 crore for one MW of wind power, he said.

Mr Kymal said the company was geared to manufacture wind turbines of higher capacity, but would do so only after the market was ready for them. More importantly, the necessary infrastructure in terms of roads and higher capacity cranes should be available. With demand picking up, NEG Micon (India) would also ramp up its production and increase the capacity utilisation at the plant from the present level of 50 per cent. The plant had a capacity to make 600 turbines a year.

Mr Kymal anticipated the demand for wind turbines to increase to 500-800 MW next year, of which NEG Micon (India) was targeting a share of 35-40 per cent.

The company manufactures turbines with a local content of 85 per cent with critical parts such as gearboxes, brake system, remote central monitoring system, generator, and switchboard and local control system imported from Europe. In India, the company sources components from various vendors and assembles and test the turbines at its plant.

According to company officials, NEG Micon (India) is in the process of linking up all the wind turbines it has installed in the country through a centralised monitoring control system. This system is used for monitoring and controlling the turbines.

They pointed out that the turbines would be connected using telephone lines and through wireless in remote areas to the hub in Chennai. Such a link-up, they said would help the company access all kinds of information about the turbines' performance and the wind velocity in an area, thus facilitating the company to improve machine availability.

According to the officials, the parent company has hooked up all the turbines it has installed in various countries through the centralised monitoring control system.

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