Tata Power Targets India's Wind Sector

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Tata Power Company Limited (BSE:500400) (Mumbai), an integrated private power company that is the power unit of Tata Group of Companies (Mumbai), commissioned for the first time 2-megawatt (MW) class wind turbines in September 2009. The turbines were manufactured and installed by Kenersys India Private Limited (Pune, Maharashtra) and were designed by Kenersys Europe GmbH (Münster, Germany). Both companies are part of leading Indian industrial house Kalyani Group (Pune).

The 2-MW Kenersys turbines were used to set up the 10-MW first phase of the windfarm at Visapur and Amberi, in the Satara district of Maharashtra. The company has begun work on an 88-MW second phase, which also will use Kenersys wind turbines. The windfarms are part of Tata Power's plans to enhance its presence in the renewable energy sector.

"The company is progressing as planned on the path of renewable energy, and today around 20% of the power generated is from 'clean' sources, which we will increase to 25% in three to four years," said Managing Director Prasad Menon of Tata Power. "Today our wind portfolio is 200 MW, and going forward we intend to add substantially to our renewables portfolio."

The company's existing wind power capacity is spread across Gujarat and Karnataka with 50-MW capacity each, and Maharashtra with 100 MW. In Gujarat and Karnataka, the company has long-term power purchase agreements (PPA) with the respective state electricity companies: Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) (Vadodara, Gujarat) and Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) (Bangalore, Karnataka). In Maharashtra, however, the wind power generated is sold to the company's own power distribution unit in Mumbai.

As part of its expansion in the sector, the company is going through the process of acquiring 20.95 MW of operating wind power capacity in Maharashtra from Niskalp Energy Limited (Mumbai). Tata Power also plans to set up and commission 150 to 200 MW of wind power capacity in the states of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu during 2010-11. Orders for the new capacity are expected to be placed soon.

Maharashtra is reputed to be one of the leading Indian states to promote wind power, and Tata Power's windfarms in the state are in the Ahmednagar, Dhulia and Satara districts.

Banmali Agrawala, the Executive Director for Strategy and Business Development of Tata Power, said that the company intends to source at least 8,000 to 10,000 MW of its generated power from zero-emission and low-carbon technologies such as hydropower, solar power, wind power or even hot gases. He said that in the long term, the company intends to generate at least 25% of its energy from such sources.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.