GE, Greenko to invest $115mn in India's wind energy sector

New York: India’s wind power industry is catching a big tail wind from General Electric. GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of GE, announced its first investment in Indian renewable energy generation with plans to invest $115 million with Greenko Group Plc in wind energy projects across India.

GE Energy Financial Services will invest $50 million and Hyderabad-based Greenko $65 million to create 500 megawatts (MW) of wind projects, enough to power 8,75,000 Indian homes, according to a company statement.

“This investment expands GE’s presence in one of the world’s fastest growing power markets with a local, proven renewable energy developer,” said Raghuveer Kurada, managing director of Global Growth Markets at GE Energy Financial Services.

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[caption id=“attachment_104261” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“GE Energy Financial Services and Greenko have agreed to invest in a new venture to develop 500 megawatts of wind energy projects across India. Image courtesy GE.”]  [/caption]

With the global wind energy industry spinning into high gear, GE is keen to expand the geographic footprint and technology mix of its wind holdings into Asia through India. This deal expands GE’s $6 billion portfolio of global clean-energy investments into India which added the most new wind capacity last year after China and the US.

Greenko plans to develop more than 1 gigawatt (GW) of wind assets in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan. It has secured concessions to build a 300 megawatt wind farm from the Karnataka government, which will be built in two phases. The first project, the 65 MW Ratnagiri wind farm in Maharashtra, will use Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE’s 1.6-megawatt turbines and be completed by December. The wind turbines, specifically designed for low and medium wind speeds, will be assembled at GE’s plant in Pune.

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Greenko sees good growth potential in the Indian wind market. With an annual average growth rate of 30 percent, the company says wind is the fastest growing clean energy source in India.

“Wind power is an increasingly important part of the Indian energy market, and through our partnership with GE, we are well positioned to play a big role in helping to meet India’s energy needs with clean power,” said Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty, CEO and managing director of Greenko.

Greenko estimates that the country has harnessed less than 25 percent of its wind-energy potential to date. India had about 15,000 megawatts of wind capacity as of 31 August, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The Indian government wants the renewable energy sector to contribute 15 percent towards the country’s total power production by 2020.

According to global wind energy figures, the country with the highest total installed wind power capacity is China (44,733 megawatts), followed by the United States (40,180 megawatts), Germany (27,215 megawatts), Spain (20,676 megawatts), and India (15,000). The top five countries account for over 80 percent of total wind energy installation worldwide.