The Adani group is gearing up to put up a prototype of a 5.2 MW wind turbine at Mundra, Gujarat. When it does come up, it would be the country’s biggest wind turbine, and will count among the largest on-shore machines in the world.
The machine will be built with technology from W2E Wind to Energy GmbH of Germany.
While Adani has not replied to an email seeking confirmation, three sources in the know of things have told Business Line that the machine would be manufactured by a company set up by the Adani family. The manufacturing unit will also be located at Mundra.
The idea is to put up a prototype, check-out the machine and then get into scale manufacturing, for self-consumption, sales in India and exports.
Onshore turbine
In the wind industry, turbines of the capacity above 4 MW are typically associated with offshore installation—where the machines have gone as big as 14 MW. But an onshore turbine of 5.2 MW is a rarity and certainly not seen in India.
The 5.2 MW machine that W2E Wind has in its portfolio, has blades that would describe a circle of 165 meters in diameter and can sit on towers 140 meters high. It can work at wind speeds of 3 metres per second (which is very low) and up to 20 mps, reaching its optimum power production at 12 mps wind speeds.
It is not clear as to which of the Adani companies will own the turbine. The group has two renewable energy companies—the listed, Adani Green Energy Ltd and Adani New Industries Ltd (ANIL).
Adani Green aims to build 45 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, three times its current portfolio.
For some time, the Adani group has been trying to get into the manufacture of wind turbines and has had conversations with the now-insolvent Regen Powertech, Inox and Suzlon for a possible takeover.
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