The management of Suzlon Energy such as the Executive Vice Chairman, Girish Tanti, has estimated that the installed capacity of wind energy in India will be approximately 10 gigawatts (GW) in the next two years due to the renewed investment, policy encouragement and increased order of turbines. Moving further into the future, the company aims to have sizeable wind capacity of approximately 13-15 GW by the year 2030, which is good growth compared to the present amount.
This projection is made amidst the wider predicaments and market instabilities, Suzlon shares have dropped approximately 27 per cent over 6 months, as investors worry about the profitability and implementation risks despite the company driving towards expansion.
Context in the sector: Renewable targets in India.
India has established clean energy targets over the decade, including a target of 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity in 2030, and a dramatic increase in the number of wind and solar setups to achieve climate and energy security potentials. Regulatory changes to accelerate grid connectivity and power purchase deals are being pushed by developers and industry bodies, with fears that the peripheral grid processes may slow down the implementation of thousands of megawatts of renewable generation.
In line with the wind aspirations of Suzlon, other wind players such as Hinduja renewables are on the same path, with intentions of increasing capacity of approximately 3 GW to about 10 GW, a move that will cost it approximately a $4 billion investment, reflecting the positive growth trend in the industry.
Why this matters
The clean power transition in India is centred around wind energy, as it is one way of diversifying generation other than fossil fuels. As anticipated annual additions continue to increase and with local manufacturing requirements favoring local turbine development, Suzlon is planning to ride the policy tailwinds and surging demand with more projects and capacity added.
Nonetheless, there are still obstacles, such as, but not limited to, competition with solar + storage systems, bottlenecks in execution, and the necessity to have more robust grid infrastructure to take up new wind capacities on a massive scale.
All in all, the projections of Suzlon are indicative of the fact that in the next decade the wind market in India would experience a tremendous boost, which is a part of the overall approach of the country to renewable energy.
