US conglomerate General Electric (GE) is supporting India’s energy transition journey through technology solutions that cover multiple pathways for onshore and offshore wind, wind turbine blade design and manufacturing. “We see tremendous potential to ramp up our footprint in the wind energy sector, especially, by strengthening domestic manufacturing,” Deepak Maloo, regional leader, Onshore Wind Business, APAC, GE Renewable Energy, tells Sudhir Chowdhary in a recent interview.
Excerpts:
Give us an overview of GE’s wind turbine manufacturing operations in India.
GE’s wind energy systems power more than 7 million homes in India, with ~4 GW of installed base. We manufacture the 2.7-132 wind turbine that delivers high performance at low wind speeds, ideal for India’s prevailing conditions. These newest turbines are equipped with a digital infrastructure that allows customers to connect, monitor, predict and optimise unit and wind farm energy performance.
Since the launch, we have secured over ~3 GW+ of 2.7-132 wind turbine orders in India, making us one of the largest wind turbine original equipment manufacturers (OEM) suppliers. These turbines are designed at the technology centre in Bengaluru, manufactured at plants in Vadodara and Bengaluru, and assembled at the Multi Modal Factory (MMF) in Pune.
How do you see India contributing towards the company’s overall growth?
We are aspiring to deliver one out of three of all the wind energy turbines India installs for the financial year 2023-24, and contribute towards the net-zero emissions target for India. We are also working on installing new manufacturing units apart from expanding our operations at Pune.
We are encouraged by the government’s announcement to invite bids for 8-10 GW wind power projects annually for the next seven years through a new bidding process. The emphasis on making in India is further motivating the local ecosystem to upgrade its abilities to match global standards. So, we see tremendous potential to ramp up our footprint in the wind energy sector, especially, by strengthening domestic manufacturing.
How does GE leverage the latest techno-logies in its manufacturing processes?
The wind energy sector is witnessing a remarkable surge in India, with the installed capacity reaching an impressive 43,773 megawatts (MW) as of June 30, 2023. This provides an opportunity to further our research and innovation to develop cutting-edge technology. Today, we are leading the sector with workhorse turbines, rising to meet the demand of the energy transition and drive decarbonisation through reliable, affordable, sustainable, renewable energy.
Manufacturing and developing local capabilities have been priorities for us. Our LM Wind Power business is operating three manufacturing plants in the country, and recently achieved the milestone of manufacturing the 50,000th wind power blade from its facility in Vadodara. The LM Technology Centre of India serves as the hub of our core engineering activities with a focus on research and development for blade components. It has emerged as a strong capability centre for blade design, development, manufacturing, transport solutions and service engineering to cover the full span of end-to-end ownership.
What is the importance of local players in your India strategy?
India is in a strong position to fulfill its target of achieving 500 GW renewable energy target by 2030. In line with this, we foster collaboration to leverage our cutting-edge technology and enable the country’s goal of amping up its renewable, and particularly, onshore wind abilities. Last year, we enabled a critical wind power project by taking 49% stake in Continuum Energy’s 99.9MW onshore wind farm in Gujarat, which is also equipped with our 2.7-132 onshore wind turbines. Our 2.7-132 onshore wind turbines are one of the most localised wind turbines in the country with ~80% local content. In order to offer end-to-end solutions, we collaborate with EPCs (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) companies to develop wind farms in India. We also work closely with our suppliers and vendors across our manufacturing landscape.