— Kailash Tarachandani,
CEO, Kenersys India Pvt Ltd
Kenersys is a worldwide operating manufacturer of wind turbine
generators. Founded in 2003 as an engineering company focused
on wind energy, it became part of the
Kalyani Group in 2007.
Kailash Tarachandani discusses the company’s aggressive plans to
tap the opportunities in wind power generation with
Renu Rajaram.
Active government support is needed to boost the wind energy
market in India, feels Tarachandani.
India’s power deficit is running at 8-10 per cent in recent times.
What role can renewable energy generation play in the given
circumstances?
The total commissioning is around 2,50,000 mw while the deficit is
around 20,000 mw. The contribution from the renewable sector is
5,000 mw per year. Around 25 to 30 per cent of the deficit can be
address by the renewable sector.
India has the third largest wind energy market in the world, with
an estimated wind potential of 100 GW onshore. How is Kenersys
geared up to tap emerging opportunities?
Kenersys is geared up to capture a minimum of around 10 per cent
market shares over the next 2-3 years. To enable achieving this,
Kenersys has already introduced technologically advanced Class
III turbines such as K98 (1.8 mw), K110 (2.4 mw) and K120 (2.3
mw) which are ideally suited for Indian wind regime and grid
conditions.
Kenersys is also geared up in building the necessary land banks,
power evacuation facilities, etc to offer a turnkey solution to the
end customer. The product already offered by Kenersys such as
K82 2MW in India is one of the most successfully model and has
been widely accepted by IPP customers. Since Kenersys has
already established a decent track record in Indian market, we are
confident of getting a pie of 10 per cent in the Indian market. Major
localization plans are underway to offer cost-effective products to
our customers.
How far does India lag behind in the use of wind energy as
compared to other developed countries?
India is not really far behind the developed countries as perceived.
The fact is other than China, India is at par with other developed
countries like Germany, Spain and US especially in last three-four
years. In fact in India the appetite for wind energy is far better
than countries like Germany, Spain and US. As a matter of fact,
some of the OEM from Germany and Spain has already setup their
subsidiaries in India to meet the Indian market demand.
In 2011, Kenersys opened its first manufacturing facility at
Baramati in Maharashtra. Tell us about more about this plant.
The Baramati plant is set up over an area of 35 acres and a built up area of 5,600 sqm and was commissioned in early 2011. In
combination with the German production plant in Wismar,
Kenersys has a global production capacity of 1,000 mw,
categorizing it to manufacturing capacity at Wismar is about 180
machines per year, while the Baramati plant has a capacity of 250
machines a year on a single shift basis.
What are the advantages of Kenersys turbines compared to
others available in the market?
Like the other members of the Kenersys turbine family – the
medium wind speeds turbines K82 (2.0 mw) and K100 (2.5
mw), the low wind speeds turbines K110 (2.4 mw), K98 (1.8
mw) and K120 (2.3 mw) were designed on the Kenersys
platform with highly efficient and highly reliable Synerdrive
Technology™.
The Synerdrive Technology™ makes Kenersys turbines
efficient and reliable as unique features makes the turbine
independent from grid and climate influences. It features the
Gridshaper™, the full conversion system that provides perfect
grid integration without relevant changes. Coolride™ is a
sophisticated cooling circuit that makes the turbine
independent from climate other atmospheric conditions. Even
if there is a grid shutdown the turbine can supply the grid
directly after quick start–with the Kenersys patented Internal
Supply Unit™ that supports the power electronics with
constant voltage and frequency even if the grid has tripped. All
these factors set Kenersys apart from the other players in the
market.
How many kinds of turbines does Kenersys produce in India? Tell
us about your total installations so far and your major customers.
We manufacture K82 (2.0 mw) wind turbine generators (WTG) for
sale in the domestic market. We have plans of producing the K120
(2.3 mw) and K98 (1.8 mw) WTGs in India. We have installed 43
K82 (2.0 mw) WTGs aggregating 86 mw in India. Our major
customers are Tata Power Company, Poonawala Group, Renew
Power, Oriental Green and C-WET, to name few.
Development of renewable energy sources depends not only on
private capital but also on government support. What is your view
on extant government policies supporting wind power
development in India?
Wind energy projects are in general not standalone and depend on
fiscal benefits such as Accelerated Depreciation, Generation
Based Incentives and REC, besides lucrative feed-in-tariffs.
Hence, it is imperative to have fiscal benefits and attractive tariff
so as to meet the threshold project returns expectations of the
investors. Thus, policy support from both Central as well as state
governments is critical for sustained growth of wind power sector
in India.
Tell us about Kenersys plans to expand its footprint in the growing
Indian wind energy market.
Other than Maharashtra, Kenersys has already spreads its wings
in other states like Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh and Rajasthan to take advantage of the lucrative policies
and also the advanced technology of Kenersys.