Reliable power and manufacturing jobs

Roughly half of India’s 1.1 billion population has no power supply at all. Even where electricity is available, the capacity of power stations is not enough to guarantee a predictable supply. Nationally, there is a gap between supply and demand of about 10%. In some states the peak time shortfall is as high as 25%. One reason is that the construction of new supply has not been able to keep up with the demands of a booming economy.

 

Because of this, electricity has to be rationed. In the state of Uttar Pradesh, one of the worst affected, many cities were limited to 12 hours of electricity per day during spring 2008. Industrial users are forced to accept regular power cuts.

 

Faced with an unreliable service and high business tariffs, wind energy provides a secure and economic electricity supply for industrial consumers. The output from the 51 Megawatts (MW) of capacity at the Kutch wind farm is used directly at four centres operated by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. This ensures that a major company like ONGC can run its plant efficiently and reliably.

 

The wind turbines installed at Kutch were manufactured by Suzlon Energy, India’s leading producer of wind generating equipment. Launched in 1995 the company has grown to become the sixth largest wind turbine manufacturer in the world, with global sales and a European headquarters in Denmark.

 

Based in the state of Maharashtra, Suzlon now employs over 13,000 people worldwide. It has steadily expanded the range of its turbines, recently introducing a 2 MW model and with plans for a 5 MW machine. The company is also developing one of the largest wind farms in the world. When complete, the Dhule development in Maharashtra will have a combined capacity of 1,000 MW.