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Our Bureau

Chennai , April 8

NEG Micon (India) Private Ltd has introduced a 1.65 MW wind turbine, which it says is the most powerful wind turbine in the Indian market. The company has sold two turbines so far and plans to sell 70 of them this year.

Turbines of smaller capacities dominate the Indian wind turbine market, according to NEG Micon, and the most powerful so far is the 950 kW machine. NEG Micon (India) believes that the Indian market will gradually shift to larger capacity turbines, like the 1.65 MW as they are ideal for low and medium wind speed regimes found in the country.

Mr Ramesh Kymal, Managing Director, NEG Micon (India), told a press conference here that the 1.65 MW turbine could operate in wind speeds ranging from 2.5 meter per second to 16 meter per second. One turbine had been installed for a textile company at Kongalnagaram, near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.

He said that the 1.65 MW turbine would cost about Rs 9.3 crore and assuming a company going in for this turbine wrote-off the value of the turbine in one year itself, the cost per kWh worked out to Rs 16. However, if it was written-off over the life cycle of the turbine (generally 20 years), the cost worked out to Rs 1.10 per kWh. This was more advantageous than a 950 kW machine, where the cost per kWh worked out to about Rs 1.20, he said.

The 1.65 MW turbine was being imported from NEG Micon in Denmark, the parent company of NEG Micon (India). However, blades would be manufactured by a Bangalore-based supplier of NEG Micon (India) from September, Mr Kymal said.

During 2004-05, NEG Micon (India) hoped to sell turbines totalling 300 MW, of which the 1.65 MW turbines would make up about one-third. The turnover during the year was expected to be Rs 1,000 crore. Next year, the target would be increased to 400 MW with the 1.65 MW turbines accounting for a bulk of the sales, he said.

Mr Kymal said the company would invest about Rs 10 crore during the year for handling equipment and storage space. So far, Rs 25 crore had been invested in plant and equipment and another Rs 110 crore on sub-stations and other facilities.Asked about the merger of NEG Micon with Vestas, Mr Kymal said globally the two companies had merged and the merged entity was called Vestas Wind Systems. In India, it would take another two to three weeks for a clear picture to emerge on the merger. Both NEG Micon and Vestas operated in India; NEG Micon through a wholly owned subsidiary and Vestas through a joint venture called Vestas RRB India Ltd.

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