Suzlon Sees Wind Project Order Downsized From 285 MW To 168 MW

Renewable energy solutions provider Suzlon Energy has announced that it has suffered a significant downsizing of an order it had won in 2018.  The order, dated May 30, 2018, from Avikiran Solar India Private Limited was for a 285 MW wind project, which has now been downsized by the firm to just 168 MW. We donot know at this stage if it is just Suzlon's share of the order that has been reduced or if Avikiran Solar has reduced the project size itself.

The wind power project was won under SECI 4 bid located in Kutch, Gujarat. Suzlon, in its stock exchange filing, attributed this reduction to the "devastating impact of the COVID19 global pandemic and the resultant disruption of the global supply chain."

Readers will be aware that Suzlon itself, thanks to debt issues and other missteps, suffered significantly as it went into restructuring, before beginning a strong recovery last year. The firm is set to be debt free now, and orders are also flowing in as the government changes its stance on wind energy, after a huge focus on solar that relegated wind to the backburner. The issue was cost as usual, but with the need for Hybrid projects that can deliver green power for extended periods, wind energy has made a comeback, and the removal of reverse auctions in particular for wind tenders is expected to help.

All that has meant that despite losing its founder Tulsi Tanti to illness last year, Suzlon is enjoying a good run with reference to portfolio additions coming from a streak of order wins and its 3 MW series of wind turbines that are amassing popularity. Some of the recent order wins by Suzlon include those from O2 Power, Integrum Energy Infrastructure Private Limited, Everrenew Energy Private Limited.

Currently , Suzlon has an order book of over 1.5 GW, and strong room for growth ahead, as the government has committed to wind tenders in the coming period, besides a revival of the private market too. The challenge now is from competitors who have become well established in the past few years, especially China's Envision, besides familiar players GE Wind and Siemens Gamesa.