Technology

The new blade plant is located in the city of Vadodara, in south-western Gujarat state. There the production lines, currently staffed by 157 employees, will reach a production capacity of 390 blades in 2013, according to the company’s forecasts. The blades will primarily supply wind turbines for wind farms in India's northern states, including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, which offer “promising wind energy potential,” says Gamesa. The Spanish firm reveals that it has invested €25 million to commission the facility, which has already produced its first blade, specifically for the G5X-850 kW turbine.

According to Gamesa India Chairman and Managing Director, Ramesh Kymal, the company is implementing “our best technology and practices in wind turbine production,” in India. The new plant was opened shortly after the commissioning of a tower factory built through the Windar Renewable Energy joint venture, in which Gamesa owns a 32% stake. The facility will employ 50 workers by the end of the first quarter of 2012. The newly operating plant is part of a 60 million-euro investment in India until the end of 2012, which Gamesa announced in March 2011.

India already boasts 15,570 MW of wind capacity
This plan is designed to cement the company’s manufacturing base to meet “growing demand in this wind market”. Gamesa reports that the plan will be rounded off by building a new factory in Tamil Nadu state to produce nacelles. Currently, India boasts 15.57 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity, having enjoyed an annual increase in its national wind capacity of three GW, explains the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association (IWTMA). Tamil Nadu is home to 42% of this capacity.

Gamesa has had a manufacturing presence in the Indian wind energy market since early 2010, when its first Indian factory began operating – a nacelle assembly facility currently equipped for capacity of 500 megawatts (MW). The company also has a technology centre in the suburb of Sholinganallur outside Chennai. In the third quarter of 2011, India accounted for 20% of the MW sold by Gamesa worldwide, after the company's sales in the country increased by 2.8 times from the same period a year earlier.

Gamesa ventured into India only two years ago and has already garnered a 10% share of the market, according to the IWTMA, making it the country's No. 3 wind energy manufacturing company. Gamesa also operates as a wind farm developer in India, where it has a portfolio of wind farms exceeding 2,100 MW of combined capacity at varying stages of development.

For additional information:
www.gamesacorp.com