The Hindu Business Line : Batliboi enXco looking to expand to more States

Chennai, April 21 Batliboi enXco Pvt Ltd (BePL), an independent service provider offering operation and maintenance of wind turbine generators, is mulling options to expand its markets. The company, a 50:50 joint venture between the Mumbai-based Batliboi Group and enXco belonging to French utility major EDF Energies Nouvelles, offers these services to windmill owners in five States.

The Managing Director of BePL, Mr V.K. Krishnan, told Business Line that the company manages about 930 windmills in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Before the end of this month, the numbers will cross 1,000. The company hopes to add 200 more before next March. Soon, it will enter West Bengal followed by Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Mr Krishnan said the company recently tied up with a wind turbine manufacturer, who commissions windmill generators in Thailand, Romania and Poland. BePL has submitted the offer to the wind turbine manufacturer and “there is every likelihood of the deal getting finalised soon”. These windmills are scheduled for operation from early 2009.

BePL is in touch with windmill operators in these countries and the plan is to train and offer operation and preventive maintenance services. This will enable the company to be cost competitive, he added.

BePL also plans to enter windmill erection business during the current year. These initiatives will help double the topline to Rs 20 crore this fiscal and triple next fiscal.

Since inception in 1996, the company has offered consultancy and technical due diligence of wind power assets. The expertise garnered over a decade in maintenance of windmills has enabled the company to get into commissioning also. Towards this, the company would invest about Rs 3 crore on land banks and purchasing cranes. The funds will be mobilised from internal accruals and loans, he added.

Power generation

The company’s specialty is that it assures 98 per cent of windmill availability through its preventive maintenance techniques against the industry average of 95 per cent. A huge difference during the peak power generation season.

“Power generation is proportionate to the wind resources and during peak season the machine will produce optimum generation close to 1,000 kW per megawatt of installation. In case 3 per cent loss of machine availability occurs during peak season, taking into consideration the average generation of 750 kW per megawatt of installation, there is a likelihood of losing 1.97 lakh units (750 kW x 263 hours).

“In case the power is sold to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, this will transform into a loss of Rs 5.72 lakh per MW of installation,” he said.

Mr Krishnan said there are five independent service providers in Tamil Nadu, which account for over half of the wind energy generation in the country. BePL holds 35 per cent market share in the independent service provider segment. With more machines coming into its fold, the market share will increase substantially.

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