Wind Turbines to Dot Vijayapura District in Karnataka Soon.

Soon, one might see innumerable fans spinning from far away in Vijayapura, with the district, like Chitradurga, gradually foraying into large-scale harvesting of wind energy in order to effectively tap the abundantly available natural resource.

Though the district is neither located on a higher altitude nor has too many hills, it has vast open and elevated areas where wind turbines are being installed to generate power.

According to sources, the district would soon have enough wind turbines to generate nearly 700 MW of power in the months to come, as several private firms including Hyderabad-based Greenko has obtaining contract to generate wind power.

Greenko has already started generating some 180 MW of power by installing turbines in Ingaleshwar village of Basavanabagewadi taluk, the sources said.

The company plans to generate 50 MW of power in Kumatagi village in the first phase, and an equal quantum of power from the same village in the second phase. In Shivanagi village, the company plans to generate 200 MW of power.

The company is reportedly establishing substations with the help of Hubli Electricity Supply Company (HESCOM) to supply electricity to the power grids.

Other projects

Three other private companies besides Greenko have together proposed to generate around 303 MW of power in the district by installing hundreds of wind turbines. According to reports, the companies are using the high-end technology in the wind energy sector by importing machines and units from the Netherlands.

The sources said that each turbine could generate from 1.2 MW to 2 MW of power. Since barren land is often used for installing turbines, the cost of unfertile land in the district has increased substantially, bringing cheers among the farmers who have such land.

Though the generated power is directly supplied to the central grids for distribution, the sources believe that since the power would be generated in the district itself, it would, to a great extent, mitigate the power crisis in the district.

New Technology may Reduce Wind Energy Costs

London: The efficiency of wind turbines can be increased and repair costs reduced through a new technique developed by engineers from the University of Sheffield.

The novel technique can predict when bearings inside wind turbines fail which could make wind energy cheaper.

Unexpected bearing failures are a common problem in wind turbines.

"By removing the risk of a loss of production and the need for unplanned maintenance, it can help to reduce the cost of wind energy and make it much more economically competitive," said co-author of the paper professor Rob Dwyer-Joyce.

The method, developed by mechanical engineering research student Wenqu Chen, uses ultrasonic waves to measure the load transmitted through a ball bearing in a wind turbine.

The stress on wind turbine is recorded and then engineers can forecast its remaining service life.

When a bearing is subjected to a load, its thickness is reduced by a very small amount due to elastic deformation, and the speed of sound is affected by the stress level in the material. Both these effects change the time of flight of an ultrasound wave through a bearing.

The new method is the only way to directly measure the transmitted load through the rolling bearing components.

It uses a custom-built piezoelectric sensor mounted in the bearing to measure the time of flight and determine the load.

This sensor is less expensive and significantly smaller than currently available, making it suitable for smaller turbines.

It can also provide a better prediction of the maintenance needed, saving money in servicing, researchers said.

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.

British Team Looks to Harness Wind Power from the Skies

“Oh wow! Look at that, it’s really hoofing some power out now,” beams Bill Hampton, looking up at his outsize kite as it swoops over a wheat field on the Essex coast. The purple prototype is, Hampton hopes, a step towards his vision of scores of huge kites flying over the sea in formation and generating clean, affordable electricity.

The test site for Kite Power Solutions (KPS) is an apt one for technology innovation, with the disused airfield lying in the shadow of one of the UK’s first nuclear power stations at Bradwell, and a few flat fields away from new wind farms whose blades turn slowly in the gentle breeze.

But, huddling behind a second world war pill box to observe the latest test flight, Hampton admits his motivation to found the company was more for the technical challenge than environmental awareness. He spent 18 years working in the exclusive super-yacht industry, creating the bespoke equipment that billionaires dream up for their huge boats.

“You’d sit with the designers and they’d say ‘we want a swimming pool but we want it to turn into a dance floor’,” he says, explaining how he learned to build novel gadgets from scratch. “I then had a real moment – you are making toys to go on someone’s toy. It’s great when you are young, but why are you doing it?” He recalls working night and day with his team to get a yacht ready to cross the Atlantic in time for a party in the Caribbean. “I walked off that site and thought ‘I don’t want to do this again’.”

Now Hampton’s enthusiasm is for the high-tech kites his company is developing and he is being taken seriously: oil giant Shell and the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change have contributed to the £3m invested so far.

The ambition is to harvest the strong, reliable winds found offshore, and away from anti-turbine protesters. But planting tall turbines into the sea is expensive, both in the steel and concrete needed and the specialised boats required to install and maintain them.

Instead, Hampton wants to tether two kites to each mooring to capture the wind. Each kite flies in a figure of eight, drawing out the tether and generating power at the winch. When it has reached its maximum height – likely to be 750m – the kite switches to a hover-like mode, where there is little stress on the tether and it can be winched back in ready for the next run, using just a fraction of the power already generated.

Power is delivered continuously because one kite is generating as the other is winched in. Ultimately, the plan is to have scores of kites flying in formation, all automatically controlled using custom-made software.

Hampton calls the kites “wings”, due to their tilting control surfaces, and at full-scale they will be 40m wide with 2-3MW capacity, about the same as a 100m-tall conventional turbine. So far, KPS have tested prototypes of 7m.

They are testing each part of the development in turn, such as avoiding collisions and automated take-offs and landings. KPP employs 16 people, including experts in aeronautics, neural network software, mechanical engineers, atmospheric physics and sail makers.

Hampton is not concerned about storms: “The kites fly at 100-150mph, so storms are all in a day’s work.” But lightning is a worry, given each kite will have an on-board computer as back-up to ground controls, but he says the kites can be brought down to safety in minutes. If the wind drops away for a short time, a small propeller is being tested to keep the kite coasting aloft.

Mission control at the Bradwell site is a converted mobility bus, now crammed with computer screens, joysticks and doughnuts. Here Hampton explains that KPS are far from alone in attempting to develop kites and wings to lower the cost of wind power.

“If we were the only people doing it, I’d be really worried,” says Hampton. The most interesting from an engineering perspective, says Hampton, is Makani, a project backed by the deep-pocketed Google. It involves a very high-tech wing collecting wind power at altitude using attached rotors, then cabling the power to the ground. “I desperately want them to get there,” Hampton says. “It will help people see this is a viable market.”

Another company, Altaeros Energies, founded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, aims to use a tube-shaped helium balloon to suspend a wind turbine in the air. Ampyx Power is developing a glider and SkySails is focusing on a simple single-kite and winch system. There is even a company, Minesto, developing an underwater kite that flies in tidal currents to generate power, which has just been awarded €13m of EU funding for testing in north Wales.

“Offshore wind is currently too expensive, although costs are coming down through evolutionary change,” says David Sanders, director of innovation at the Carbon Trust. “But wind kites have the potential to be revolutionary and bring a step-change reduction in costs.”

Sanders says backing such technologies carries a big risk, with $50-100m needed to get to commercial scale: “You need to gamble very large amounts of money, but if it works out you could make a huge amount of money. I would love to see these sorts of radical innovations get funding from somewhere, whether that’s governments or large companies. Not all of them will work, but some will and they are really needed.”

On KPS, Sanders says: “They are on track – but they have a long way to go.” The company is looking for $10m in 2016, says KPS business development director David Ainsworth, with the aim of selling their first commercial onshore systems in 2019 and having a demonstration array in the ocean before 2025.

Ainsworth spent a decade with tidal power pioneers Marine Current Turbines, who installed an underwater turbine at Strangford Loch and have now been bought by engineering giant Siemens. He is alongside Hampton watching the test flights at the Bradwell Bay airfield, which has its own history of novel technology. During the second world war, hundreds of the all-wooden Mosquito fighter-bombers flew out of the airfield to fight the Nazis.

On the question of whether the public will warm to the sight of kite-powered wind farms more than some have to turbines, Ainsworth makes an aviation link: “Everyone loves the Red Arrows, so having 200 kites flying in formation would be quite spectacular.”

Bid to tap wind energy in Dhanushkodi

The Centre for Wind Energy Technology (CWET) will set up an assessment mast in Dhanushkodi near Rameswaram to tap offshore wind energy potential and the data will be generated by the end of this year or next year, according to chairman and managing director of Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency Sudeep Jain.Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on ‘Innovative Technologies in Environment and Clean Energy from Japan — Seeking Business Opportunities’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Japan External Trade Organisation, he said the State government had tied up with the Ministry of Non-renewable Energy since the sea bed was outside the perimeter of the State government. He said the plan was to tap the entire coast of Tamil Nadu for offshore windmill and that there were plans to tap Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). 

Jain further said the State government had embarked on a plan to build 60,000 solar-powered green homes for people living below the poverty line across the State. The state government has called for international bids for setting up solar street lights and solar home lights by March 15 and 16. Jain also said the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency was organising RENERGY 2012, an International conference and expo on renewable energy here on March 12 and 13. He also said that the State would announce a renewable energy policy soon to facilitate investments in renewable energy power generation projects for which the State had set a target of 10,640 mw for the next five years. The State would also come out with an exclusive solar power policy.

Belgium plans artificial island for wind energy storage

Belgium is planning to construct an island in the North Sea for the sole purpose of storing wind energy.

Wind farms, when constructed using traditional mainstream methods, will eventually require backup as their electricity market penetration increases, and when wind turbines generate surplus electricity due to unusually high wind speeds (which can happen pretty often) it goes to waste.

Image Source: Vestas

“We have a lot of energy from the wind mills and sometimes it just gets lost because there isn’t enough demand for the electricity,” said spokeswoman for Belgium’s North Sea minister Johan Vande Lanotte. “This is a great solution,” the spokeswoman said, adding she thought it could be the first of its kind.

Excess wind power would be used to pump water out of the centre of the island, and it would be allowed to flow back in, but through an electricity generating turbine to augment overall electricity production when there is a shortfall of wind energy.

Vande Lanotte revealed these plans at the Belgian port of Zeebrugge late on Wednesday.

Large-scale wind energy storage has been mostly just a thought for many years, worldwide, but Belgium decided to step up to the plate and put it to the test.

There is an important fact about the electricity market penetration of wind power — in reality, the only real market penetration is done by electricity when it is used. By storing the surplus wind-produced electricity in the North Sea plant, this company can finally sell it, because excess electricity will be ready for when electricity demand increases during peak hours.

Source: reuters

Wind power potential in AP assessed at 88,000 MW

The wind power potential in Andhra Pradesh is assessed to be at least 88,000 Mw from wastelands. Furthermore, there is a potential of around 12,000 Mw if 5 per cent of the state’s agricultural lands suitable for wind power were used.

According to a study by the Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), wind power is cost-effective as compared with other sources of generation. The main challenge for large-scale wind power addition is managing its variability and unpredictability.

The state will have to develop fast ramping sources of generation such as hydro, pumped hydro, open cycle gas turbines, which could be used to manage the variability, the study stated.

Similarly, Karnataka has an estimated potential of 50,000 Mw from wastelands for a turbine height of 80 metres and an additional 20,000 Mw if 5 per cent of the agricultural lands suitable for wind power were used.

CSTEP recently released a report ‘Wind Power in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh: Potential Assessment, Costs and Grid Implications’ during a workshop on Roadmap for Accelerated Wind Power Development in India.

The major finding of the report is that the potential available in Karnataka and AP for wind power at higher heights is not a constraint for large-scale generation. The modern wind turbines installable at heights up to 100 metres can efficiently extract higher potential available in comparison to earlier models, which were built at less than 50 metres height.

Speaking on the occasion, S V Ranganath, chief secretary, Karnataka, stated that current allocations for wind power projects were not adequate given the high potential available to be tapped in Karnataka.

He stressed the importance of considering storage mechanisms such as pumped hydro storage to manage the unpredictability of generating large-scale power from wind resource.

“The implications of the results are significant for setting national level targets, at a time when the Planning Commission has indicated interest in setting up a National Wind Mission in the 12th Plan,” said Alok Srivastava, joint secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

The study undertook a geographical information system (GIS)-based assessment of the availability of wind resource, land, and transmission networks for rapid wind power development.

Suzlon Goes Large on blades for its Wind Turbines

Indian manufacturer Suzlon has produced the first 54.8-metre blade for its S111 2.1MW wind turbine.

The S111 evolved from the S88 and S97 2.1MW family and is engineered to deliver a 20% increase in annual energy production over the S97, the company said.

Project manager Laurens van der Sande said: “The first SB54 blade is the longest and cleanest aerodynamic profile Suzlon has ever produced.

“This milestone has been achieved due to an effective integration between the product design, production unit and the tool design. The result is reflected in a shorter production timeline with a high yield product.”

Suzlon Group chairman Tulsi Tanti added: “We believe in offering optimal energy solutions to our clients, which is why we continue to leverage on our technological edge and create products that derive maximum energy yield. The S111/SB54 blade is based on previous Suzlon designs with innovative and optimized improvements.”

The first S111 turbine prototypes are being assembled and will be erected and tested later this year in India and in the US. Certification is expected in the first half of 2015.

Siemens to launch low-wind turbine

The German manufacturer will reveal the exact nature of the turbine at the WindEnergy Hamburg trade show next week. But a spokesperson for Siemens said that the turbine will be based on its direct-drive D3 platform with the addition of a larger rotor, as well as "several other innovations".

Siemens currently offers the 3-3.2MW turbines with rotors of between 101 and 113 metres. The largest rotor makes the IIa wind-class turbine suitable for medium-wind sites.

The D3 platform was launched in 2010 as Siemens' largest onshore turbine at the time. It also represented its first move into direct-drive turbines, which the company said lowered the top-head mass and improved reliability.

In March, Siemens revealed an uprated version of the turbine, giving the new machine a 3.2MW capacity and a 4% higher annual yield.

Many turbine manufacturers have been producing low-wind turbines for a number years, allowing them to gain market share.

Nordex has said that its low-wind N117 turbine has been key to the company's impressive showing in recent years, helping to push it into the top ten global turbine manufacturers. Enercon, GE and Vestas also have established low-wind platforms.

Global Wind Tally Hits 336GW

here were 17.6GW of new wind energy installations in the first half of 2014 to drive total global capacity to 336GW, according to a report. The new installations were up from 14GW in the same period of 2013 and by the end of this year the World Wind Energy Association expects worldwide capacity to top 360GW. Figures also reveal Asia has overtaken Europe as the leading wind continent with China close to 100GW of installed capacity. In Latin America, Brazil is now the third largest market for new wind turbines. The increase in global wind capacity was 5.5% in the six-month period compared with 5% in the year-ago period and 7.3% in 2012. 

Big Investments for Indian Hydro, Wind Power

Indian energy producer Reliance Power Ltd. plugged into an 1,800 megawatt surge on Monday with a deal that is set to make it the largest private sector hydroelectricity provider in the country.

Reliance, part of Anil Ambani's Reliance Group conglomerate, said it signed an exclusive memorandum of understanding to acquire the entire hydropower portfolio of Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd., a subsidiary of Jaiprakash Associates Ltd., also known as the Jaypee Group. It did not disclose the price of the acquisition, but said the portfolio was in full operation and together had an asset base of more than 100 billion rupees ($1.66 billion).

Indian media put the price at about $2 billion.

Two of the three assets in the portfolio were the subject of a $1.6 billion bid led by Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. PJSC, or Taqa, which collapsed last week.

Taqa and its co-investors, Canadian institutional investor Indo-Infra Inc. and Indian mutual fund IDFC Alternatives, signed a deal in March to acquire two plants with a combined capacity of 1,391 MW. But last Thursday, JPVL informed the market that Taqa had pulled out of the deal, citing changes in business strategies and priorities. The Indian company said Taqa would be liable for a breakup fee for the decision.

The seller will use the money to reduce debt, Reliance Power said.

The announcement lit up Reliance Power's share price, which rose 3.2% to finish the day at Rs94.00.

The deal came as General Electric Co. announced that its GE Energy Financial Services unit had invested an undisclosed amount in three wind projects under construction in India. The investments are in farms being built by regional energy player Atria Power in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. GE said the windfarms will have a combined capacity of 126 megawatts and will support the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy's program to generate grid-interactive windpower through feed-in tariffs. Atria was advised on the deal by Bangalore-based Kin Advisors LLP.

Reliance Power said the Jaypee acquisition would be made through 100% subsidiary CleanGen Ltd. It said each of the power plants in the portfolio had an asset life of over 50 years and used run-of-the-river technology to convert natural water-flow to electricity, "eliminating the need for a large reservoir."

The three plants -- the 300 megawatts Baspa Stage II, the 1,091 megawatts Karcham Wangtoo and the 400 megawatts Vishnuprayag installations -- together provide power to much of North India, including the most populous state Uttar Pradesh, as well as Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The portfolio is already the largest privately held hydropower business in India. But Reliance Power said it also has a further 5,000 megawatts of hydroelectric capacity under development, and the combination will further diversify its largely coal-based operations.

Reliance Power and rival electricity producer Adani Power Ltd., both of which are listed on the Indian exchanges, moved swiftly to enter the fray when the Taqa consortium pulled out. Indian financial publication VC Circle said Reliance Power won the deal both on valuation and certain other terms of the transaction.

British private equity firm 3i Group plc retains a small stake in Adani after selling part of its holding earlier this year.

Reliance Power is advised by SBI Capital Markets Ltd.

Separately, private equity firm Apax Partners LLP announced the acquisition Monday of an 8% stake in Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Co. Ltd., the financial services arm of India's Murugappa Group. Apax said it is investing Rs5 billion ($84 million) in a preferential issue of compulsorily convertible shares, which will convert into equity after a year and carry a 1% dividend coupon. The capital infusion will enable Chola to continue to grow its business rapidly in a recovering macroeconomic environment in India and to augment its Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio, Apax said.

Chola is a financial services provider offering products including vehicle finance, home loans, home equity loans and SME loans. Chola operates from over 575 branches across India with more than Rs250 billion in assets under management.

Kotak Mahindra Capital Co. was Apax's financial adviser. Khaitan & Co. and Kirkland & Ellis LLP provided legal counsel to Apax. Axis Capital Ltd. advised Chola.

Suzlon plans to double India installations ahead of unit listing

New Delhi: Suzlon Energy Ltd., the Indian wind- turbine maker that defaulted on bonds, expects to more than double installations in its home market this fiscal year before a planned listing of its German unit. Chairman Tulsi Tanti said his top priority was to see the Suzlon group emerge more competitive from debt restructuring as it seeks by March to re-list its offshore turbine unit, Senvion SE, on the London Stock Exchange. Restoring Suzlon’s dominance in India, consolidating group businesses and replacing high-cost rupee debt with lower-cost overseas debt were part of this year’s plan, Tanti said in a phone interview. The group will become extremely competitive in the market place through consolidation of group businesses, Tanti said. It’s not the current Senvion honestly that we’ll take to the capital markets. Prime Minister 

Narendra Modi’s government this month restored a wind-farm tax benefit after a two-year hiatus to lift Asia’s second-biggest wind market out of a slump. Bloomberg New Energy Finance raised its 2014 India projection by 13% to 2,600 megawatts of installations on the decision, according to Shantanu Jaiswal, a Delhi-based wind analyst for the research company. India may install 3,000 megawatts in the fiscal year ending March, of which Suzlon expects to grab about 1,000 megawatts, Tanti said. The Pune-based manufacturer supplied 403 megawatts last year for a record-low 20% share, according to data from the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association. By the second half, Suzlon expects to see orders from customers seeking to claim accelerated depreciation tax benefits by building wind farms, Kirti Vagadia, group head of finance, said in an interview last week.

Tiny windmills may one day power cell phones:

Indian origin scientist Smitha Rao at the University of Texas has come up with world's smallest wind turbine that could one day power portable electronics and recharge smartphone batteries. The micro-windmill is so small that 10 such windmills could be mounted on a single grain of rice. The device is about 1.8 mm at its widest point. Rao, along with J.C. Chiao, a professor of electrical engineering at UT, developed the technology based on recent advances in micro-robotic devices. "Hundreds of the windmills could be embedded in a sleeve for a cell phone," the researcher claimed. "Wind, created by waving the cell phone in air or holding it up to an open window on a windy day, would generate the electricity that could be collected by the cell phone's battery.

Environmental panel clears Simang I and II hydel projects in Arunachal Pradesh

A key environmental panel has recommended clearance for two hydel power projects in the Siang river valley in Arunachal Pradesh.

The two projects—Simang I and II totalling 133 MW—are located on the Simang, the right bank tributary of the Siang River. Projects in the Siang river basin are viewed as strategically important on account of the border with China. Adishankar Power Pvt Ltd is the project developer.

The Expert Appraisal Committee on River Valley and Hydroelectric Power Projects decided to recommend to the environment ministry that the two projects be cleared subject to requisite clearances from the National Wildlife Board, since Simang II is 6.4 km away from the Mouling National Park.

The panel has asked the developer to revise the cost estimate of implementing the environmental management plan, as it found the figures submitted by it to be on the lower side. It has also suggested that environmental flows of the river should be in line with the recommendations of the Siang Basin study report for winter or lean, monsoon and non-lean and non-monsoon seasons. As of now, the Simang I and II hydro-power projects are the only projects on this river.

The total land requirement for Simang I is 54.58 hectare, of which 32.74 hectare is forestland. The 18-metre barrage will result in a submergence of 15.5 hectare.

Simang II, on the other hand, requires about 46.14 hectare of land, of which 26.75 hectare is forestland. The 18-metre barrage will result in a submergence of 10.57 hectare of land.

Projects in the Siang river basin are seen as strategically important. The Yarlung Tsangpo is known as the Siang after it enters India in Arunachal Pradesh. This is what gives the Siang basin its strategic significance from an international point of view.

The government considers developing the Siang basin important as it will not only help India counter Chinese build-up in the area but also strengthen its negotiating position with China.

India and China have no water agreements. As a result, there is no structured international convention under which India can appeal should its lower riparian rights be affected by the power projects on the Tsangpo.

In this context, developing the Siang basin provides India the best safeguard. As early as August 2010, the then environment minister Jairam Ramesh had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying the environment ministry would ensure expeditious forest and environment clearances for all projects on river Siang without ignoring ecological concerns.

Japan starts up offshore wind farm near Fukushima

Japan switched on the first turbine at a wind farm 20 kilometers (12 miles) off the coast of Fukushima, feeding electricity to the grid tethered to the tsunami-crippled nuclear plant onshore.

The wind farm near the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant is to eventually have a generation capacity of 1 gigawatt from 143 turbines, though its significance is not limited to the energy it will produce. Symbolically, the turbines will help restore the role of energy supplier to a region decimated by a population exodus following the multiple meltdowns triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Wind energy sees some activity in India

 Four large transactions in wind energy have brought back some activities in the sector in India during the quarter ended September 30, according to a report complied by Mercom Capital Group.

Nagarjuna Agrichem, an Indian agrochemicals maker, sold off its entire wind power business to an undisclosed investor for Rs30 crore (~$5 million) as part of its strategy to consolidate on core business.

Goyal MG Gases, an Indian manufacturer and supplier of industrial gases, acquired an 11.2 MW wind project from DLF for Rs29.52 crore ($4.9 million).

Continuum Wind Energy, a wind project developer, backed by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners has acquired DJ Energy and Uttar Urja Power Projects from Delhi based Sravanthi Group totaling 178.7 MW for an undisclosed amount.

Green Infra, a renewable energy power producer has acquired a majority stake in TVS Energy, a subsidiary of TVS Motor, for an undisclosed amount. With the latest acquisition, Green Infra has added 59.75 MW of wind farms across Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, taking its operating capacity to 377 MW.

Nevertheless, Wind venture capital (VC) funding dropped slightly to $135 million compared to $210 million in Q2 2013 globally. Total funding in the wind sector came in at $5.6 billion in Q3 2013, including VC funding and other equity financings, debt financings and announced project funding deals.

Mainstream Renewable Power, an independent renewable energy project developer, raised $133 million fromMarubeni Corporation making it the largest VC deal this quarter. Brazilian utility Cemig's $621 million investment in project developer Renova Energia, and the $52 million raised by wind developer Rabbalshede Kraft, were the other equity financing deals this quarter. Large-scale project funding in Q3 2013 totaled $3.7 billion in 28 deals compared to $3.2 billion in 24 deals in Q2 2013. There were a total of 59 investors that participated in project funding deals this quarter.

"With the capital markets thawing and renewable energy industry maturing - especially wind and solar - we are seeing more IPO activity," commented Raj Prabhu, CEO and Co-Founder of Mercom Capital Group, llc.

This quarter Mercom recorded three IPOs, one each in the United States (Pattern Energy), Canada (TransAlta Renewables) and Brazil (CPFL Renovaveis), resulting in almost $1 billion raised.

Tata wind power generation up 43% in 2012-13

Tata Power said that the generation by its wind farms had gone up 43 per cent in 2012-13 to 800 million units (mu) from 569 mu logged in the previous year. The company has an installed capacity of 398 MW in wind power with plants across Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The growth was mainly due to its Agaswadi wind farms, which had an increased generation of 85 mu, and Poolavadi 140 mu. Anil Sardana, Managing Director, said the company is developing wind power projects of over 160 MW in India. The increase in wind generation capacity by a record of 43 per cent proves the company’s commitment towards generating 20-25 per cent of its total generation capacity from clean energy sources.

Wind: Generating little interest

A couple of years ago, the wind power sector looked very robust, with 3,200 MW of capacity added in 2011-12 alone. Last year, the US-based Lawrence-Berkeley National Laboratory said that India’s wind power potential is about 2 million MW— ten times its total installed power capacity. Over the years, as many as 26 wind turbine manufacturers had come up in the country. So, it looked as though a rural industry would develop, relying on local manufacturing and employment. Today, however, the wind industry is down in the dumps. In 2012-13, installations fell to 1,700 MW, and the shrinking market has left little room for smaller turbine manufacturers.

Hindustan Zinc saves Rs 280 Cr from green initiatives

The green initiative undertaken by Hindustan Zinc, part of the Vedanta Group, has resulted in an annual saving of Rs 280 crore. The company generates wind energy of 273.5 MW across five States, including Gujarat (88.8 MW) and Karnataka (49.40 MW), Rajasthan (88.8 MW), Maharashtra (25.5 MW) and Tamil Nadu (21 MW). The wind energy project is registered under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) programme by the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change and earns carbon credits, which can be sold to generate revenue.

Winds benefit the wings of a turbine on Altinho hillock, Panaji

The Ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) has approved a grant of Rs 53 lakh to the University of Pune (UoP) to facilitate the establishment of a testing facility, for evacuated tubes used in solar water heaters, at its school of energy studies (SES).

Director of UoP's board of college and university development V B Gaikwad said, "The university will also help in creating a similar test facility at the solar energy center, Gurgaon near Delhi."

Techno Electric plans big wind energy expansion in FY14

Techno Electric & Engineering may not have added any wind energy capacity in the current financial year, it has big plans to expand in 2013-14, according to a top company official. The Kolkata-based company so far has wind generation capacity of 207 mega watt, of which 162mw is under its subsidiary Simran Wind Projects Pvt Ltd and and 45 mw with itself. It has tapped private equity players for raising funds in Simran Wind and these funds will be used for expanding capacity.    "We have signed termsheets with the investor. We had (planned) total of USD 100 million for growing this company until 2020. So we have signed the termsheet with the first investor and we are discussing the definitive agreement. Money will be drawn from the investor when we set up the projects," Joy Saxena, ED, told moneycontrol.com in an interaction. In what could bring a fillip to the sector, Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the Budget last month reintroduced generation based incentives (GBIs). The government had withdrawn these incentives last year, and there has been a fall in new wind power installations since. Saxena says reintroduction of GBI is certainly a welcome move but there are certain ambiguities that need to be addressed. "They have announced a package of Rs 800 crore. But some things are not clear from that...Is the GBI applicable for next year or the wind assets already commissioned from April 1, 2012. Also will it be at the rate of 50 paise per unit or 80 paise per unit...All those issues have not been clarified," he said. Saxena says companies have been reluctant in investing in the wind energy sector due to lack of clarity on these measures. He expects the government to issue more guidelines on GBI soon and investment should pick up post that. Meanwhile, Techno Electric has started seeing some pickup in the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) segment in the last couple of months.  "For us this last quarter plus going forward next quarter looks good as far as new order intake is concerned," he said. Techno has received around Rs 400 crore worth orders this quarter (Jan-March) and the company is expecting another Rs 200-300 crore worth orders in the next 1-2 months, according to Saxena. The slowdown in EPC segment has hit companies hard. Techno Electric's consolidated total income in the third quarter declined 12 percent year-on-year to Rs 149 crore. Net profit was up 9 percent to Rs 25 crore, helped by lower expenses. The company's EPC sales fell 23 percent last quarter. For the first nine months of the year, its consolidated revenue was down 9 percent to Rs 547 crore.  In an earlier interview, Saxena had told moneycontrol.com that the company might not be able to achieve 8-10 percent revenue growth in the EPC segment in the current financial year due to the overall slowdown in investments and it hoped to at least maintain last year's topline. Techno Electric shares hit a 52-week low of Rs 149 on Friday. The stock was trading up about 1 percent at Rs 153.75 in late trading on NSE.  So far this year, the shares have declined 20 percent.