Gamesa (GAM.MC), a global wind turbine manufacturer and wind farm developer, announced that it will invest more than EUR 60 million through 2012 to build new manufacturing plants in India.
Gamesa plans to open a turbine blade factory this year, with initial production capacity of 300 megawatts (MW), and will localize production of its G9X-2.0 MW turbine in India in 2012.
The new factory, in northwest India’s Gujarat state, will make blades for the G5X-0.850 kW turbine. Furthermore, in future the facility may produce components for higher capacity machines, such as the G9X-2.0 MW, the company said.
Gamesa said it intends to open additional manufacturing plants in India in coming years to produce nacelles and towers (via joint ventures) at several locations in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu states.
As part of its strategy for cementing its Indian business with footholds in both manufacturing and technology, Gamesa has also inaugurated its first technology center in the country, in Sholinganullar, in Chennai.
Gamesa in February 2010 began production at its first manufacturing site in India, in the area of Red Hills, adjacent the city of Chennai in southeast India. The facility, which makes Gamesa G58-850 kW turbines, was initially outfitted with annual production capacity of 200 MW.
However, the plant’s manufacturing capabilities were expanded to nearly 500 MW by the end of 2010 to meet larger than expected demand.
Gamesa in 2010 sold turbine capacity totalling 196 MW to customers in India, which accounted for 8% of the corporation’s total sales. Meanwhile, the company expanded its workforce in India nearly fivefold, to more than 330 wind jobs.
Gamesa’s 2011-2013 Business Plan targets average annual sales growth of 166% in India (based on 2009-2013 guidance), with manufacturing capacity forecast to exceed 800 MW in 2013.
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