Wind Turbine Manufacturers-body seek export-linked incentives, PLI for forging facilities to make indigenous products competitive

The Hindu.

Separately, Mr. Pyasi also stated that the industry would receive an additional boost if the government could support with an incentive scheme for indigenous manufacturing of flanges and large bearings required in large forging facilities.

‘There is demand for Indian-manufactured equipment’

Underlining the need for an export-incentive scheme, Mr. Pyasi stated, “There is a lot of demand for India-manufactured equipment. However, we are not as cost competitive as China because they have an established ecosystem and provide a lot of subsidies to their manufacturing segment.”

Suggesting a potential structure, he stated, “There could be a manufacturer-linked incentive for exports – to be gauged by rupees per megawatt - for five to seven years. It would be a turnover-linked incentive which will be applicable only to exports outside India,” he stated.

Mr. Pyasi also suggested the government also consider providing export finance facility as well a domestic buyer’s facility, that is, a credit facility to buyers who buy the wind turbines manufactured in India.

The chief of the wind energy industry body observed that Indian manufacturers do not get a like-for-like advantage when they seek to approach markets outside the country (for example, Europe or North America) compared to when neighbouring countries supply equipment to India.

“So, we request the government to negotiate with the counterparts in Europe and especially now that European Union FTA is under discussion, it is probably the opportune time to approach with this kind of a facility,” he stated, adding, “This will go a long way in us competing with the Chinese counterparts or other countries.”

Addressing imports by supporting manufacturing

Mr. Pyasi emphasised the country’s import needs in the realm relate to forging facilities for larger platforms, such as those of about five megawatts.

Forging facilities are required to provide the necessary toughness and resistance that are necessary for a wind turbine’s stable performance.

He added that platform sizes of about 3-3.5 megawatts are “about 80-85% indigenised”.

“We request the government to support the industry with incentives for manufacturing large bearings, flanges which are part of the tower because the forging facility is not there in India,” he said, adding, “Also, the raw material which is specialised high-strength steel that is presently not manufactured in India because the aggregate demand is missing.”

Addressing curtailments

According to Mr. Pyasi, by their very nature, solar and wind energy have lower capacity utilisation factor (CUF), that is, about 21% and 36-40% respectively, as compared to conventional coal-powered plants, about 85%.

Therefore, the renewable sources may note a wide variance of installed capacity percentage with the final output generated, he stated.

Curtailment is when power-grid operators limit the power output from generating sources to maintain grid stability.

“When we look at the [power] generation figures, we should be clear that it may come across that renewable is not in it but that is not the case, we just need to deploy more capacities,” he emphasised.