The facility was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Power Bharatsinh Solanki on Friday.
Commenting on the new facility, Shiram EPC managing director and CEO T Shivaraman said, ‘being an integrated provider of infrastructure solutions for the core sectors of the economy, we are catering to the needs of alternative energy industries. Our strong presence in the wind and biomass sectors gives us the opportunity to capitalise on industries vital to economic growth contributing to a sustainable and green future.’ He said joining hands with Leitner group would give the company access to world-class technology for gearless wind turbines and further strengthen their domain capability.
Wind energy has so far been the most developed section in the renewable energy sector in India. According to estimates, India has the potential to generate 45,000 MW of wind power while counter-estimates raise the bar to anywhere between 60,000-80,000 MW. Currently, the country has a total capacity in excess of 10,000 MW. It may be noted that wind has been the most competitive source of large scale renewable energy.
Since these wind farms were being set up in rural areas, it generated opportunities for employment in the form of electrical, civil and mechanical engineers and technicians. The total capacity installed in India was 10,134 MW as on 31 March 2009.
Leitner Technologies group president Michael Seeber pointed out they had decided to partner with Shriram EPC as they were one of India’s most trusted and reliable brands operating in the wind industry. ‘This partnership is aimed at meeting the needs of the Indian and international customers by offering globally competitive products.
This will help our clients produce quality wind power with high efficiency and low long-term costs,’ he said. Further, he said Chennai has proven to be the ideal location for their factory. ‘It took a very short time to get the factory ready and start our production which is efficient and to our entire satisfaction,’ he said.
Sharing his views on the new facility, Leitner Shriram Manufacturing Ltd managing director P Ashok said with the international strengths of Leitner Technologies and the local presence of Shriram EPC, the joint venture has been able to set up this manufacturing hub for wind turbines. This partnership would produce gearless wind turbines and enable the company to deliver the best in quality for India and the world.
Having a capability to manufacture various parts associated with wind turbines including the rotors, the facility’s turnaround time to deliver to the market would be faster. In addition to the MW-class machines, the joint venture would manufactures a range of wind turbines including Shriram 250T and the 250 KW turbines.
With a proven track record of more than a decade, over 400 Shriram 250T wind turbines have been installed for various clients across the country.
According to company officials, the new facility was embedded with a pattern of harmony with European design and engineering concepts through Indian execution. Having a built-up area of 2.50 lakh sq ft, the state-of-the-art facility was equipped to manufacture the best in class mega watt wind turbines. The unit employed around 300 people and would provide indirect employment for about 1000 people additionally.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Shriram group chairman R Thyagarajan, Leitner group president Michael Seeber, its director Anton Seeber and Shiram EPC managing director and CEO T Shivaraman along with Leitner Shriram Manufacturing Ltd managing director P Ashok. Shriram EPC, a $200 million company with a range of engineering capability, has been a one-stop solution for design, procurement, construction and project management services.
The company which employed over 500 personnel including 300 engineers is a part of the Chennai-based Shriram group. Shriram EPC entered into a joint venture agreement with Leitner group on February 2007 for setting up Leitner Shriram Manufacturing Ltd (LSML) which would focus on the production of wind turbines and development of wind farm projects.
Shriram EPC is holding 51 per cent stake in LSML with the balance 49 per cent being owned by Leitwind BV of Leitner group, a conglomerate with an investment of over 700 million euros in R&D in the last five years. The Italian group has facilities in France, Austria, Canada and the US with 70 sales and service points worldwide.
