Suzlon Energy

Infobox Company
company_name = Suzlon Energy
company_
company_type = Public BSE|532667, (NSE)
foundation = 1995
location = flagicon|IND Pune, Maharashtra, India
key_people = flagicon|IND Tulsi Tanti, Chairman & MD

industry = Renewable Power
products = Wind Turbines
revenue = profit $2.8 billion (2008)
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees = 13000
parent =
subsid =
homepage = [http://www.suzlon.com]
footnotes =

Suzlon Energy (BSE|532667) is a wind power company in India. In terms of market share, the company is the largest wind turbine manufacturer in Asia (and the fifth largest worldwide [ [http://specials.rediff.com/money/2008/aug/01slde2.htm Suzlon becomes the fifth largest wind turbine manufacturer on earth] ] ). In terms of net worth, it is the world's most valuable wind power company [ [http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Tulsi-Tanti_QD9Q.html "The World's Billionaires, #368 Tulsi Tanti"] "Forbes". March 05, 2008. Accessed July 26, 2008.] . With headquarters in Pune, it has several manufacturing sites in India including Pondicherry, Daman, Bhuj and Gandhidham as well as in mainland China, Germany and Belgium. The company is listed on the National Stock Exchange of India and on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Founder

Tulsi Tanti, a former textile manufacturer, with the help of some of his friends of Surat moved into wind energy production and founded Suzlon energy after facing increasing electricity costs. [http://www.forbes.com/business/global/2006/1127/039.html] .

Leadership

Suzlon is actively run by the Chairman and Managing Director, Tulsi Tanti since the initiation of the company. In late January 2007, Suzlon Energy appointed Andre Horbach as Group Chief Executive Officer and Patrick Krähenbühl as Group Chief Financial Officer in March 2007.

Patrick Krähenbühl left Suzlon with effect from April 1, 2008 while Andre Horbach stepped down with effect from May 23, 2008. At the time of Mr Horbach's departure Vivek Kher, a spokesman for Suzlon, said both employees left for personal reasons.

Operations

In India, the company has been the market leader for eight years consecutively, installing 53% of the capacity added in 2005.

Suzlon offers customers total wind power solutions including consultancy, manufacturing, operations & maintenance services. Suzlon is a multinational company with offices, R&D and technology centers, manufacturing facilities and service support centers spread across the globe.

With the increasing demand and the advantage of being an end-to-end solution provider in its field of activity, Suzlon plans to increase its presence within India, and around the world. It already has a presence in over 40 locations around the world – including Australia, China, Europe, India, New Zealand, South Korea and the USA.

Suzlon has design and R&D teams and facilities in Germany, India and The Netherlands to retrofit blades for clients. The international sales business of Suzlon is managed out of Aarhus, Denmark, while its global management office is in Amsterdam.

In the year 2006, Suzlon reached a definitive agreement for acquisition of Belgium firm Hansen Transmissions, specializing in gearboxes for wind turbines, for $565 million. In 2007, the company purchased a controlling stake in Germany's REpower which valued the firm at US$ 1.6 billion.

In June 2007, Suzlon had signed a contract with Edison Mission Energy (EME) of US for delivery of 150 wind turbines of 2.1 mw in 2008 and a similar volume to be delivered in 2009. EME had an option not to purchase the 150 turbines due to be delivered in 2009, which it has chosen to exercise. There have been news reports that blades of some of the turbines delivered earlier by Suzlon had started to crack, which led EME to cancel the order.

Environmental Record

In 2006, the Suzlon Rotor Corporation set up a manufacturing unit without prior clearence for an air permit. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agengcy has reported that the manufacturing unit has the potential to emit 27 tons of hazardous air pollutants per year. Seventeen tons of the released polutants are expected to be xylene, a toxic chemical used in the rubber, leather and printing industries. This amount of xylene being emitted into the environment puts Suzlon in violation of the federal standards for hazardous air pollutants. [ [http://www.dglobe.com/articles/index.cfm?id=11336&section=News "Suzlon fined for alleged air quality violations"] "Daily Globe". May 6, 2008. Accessed May 6, 2008.] Furthermore, the company failed to report mandatory annual air emissions details for 2005 and 2006. [ [http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?autono=322197&leftnm=1&subLeft=0&chkFlg= "Suzlon arm fined $19k by US body"] "business-standard.com". May 7, 2008. Accessed May 6, 2008.] On the contrary, Suzlon is well-known for their contributions to the environment. Suzlon has built an abundance of wind turbines for clients all around the world. The products they produce provide an alternative source of energy to the more prominent sources, such as oil and coal, that are responsible for a great portion of the excess greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/28/business/worldbusiness/28wind.html?pagewanted=all "The Ascent of Wind Power"] "The New York Times". September 26, 2006. Accessed May 6, 2008.]

Wind parks

Suzlon operates what was once Asia's largest wind park of 201MW near the Koyna reservoir in Satara district of Maharashtra - The Vankusawade_Wind_Park. [http://www.suzlon.com/asias_largest_wind_park.htm] It also operates a 58 MW wind park in the Western Ghats. Besides this, it has supplied turbines for the Minnesota project comprising twelve wind farms in Minnesota. [http://www.suzlon.com/danmar_project.htm] It also has recently opened a turbine blade plant in Pipestone, Minnesota [http://www.pipestonestar.com/Stories/Story.cfm?SID=10607] .

Suzlon will install 45 units of its S88 – 2.1 megawatt wind turbine for AGL at the Hallett Wind Farm to be located approximately 220 kilometers north of Adelaide, in South Australia. [http://www.suzlon.com/images/you/AGL%20Press%20Release%20Rv.%20Final.pdf]

ee also

*List of wind turbine manufacturers
*Vestas
*Wind Prospect
*Wind power in India
*Hallett Wind Farm
*Solar power in India

References

* [http://www.suzlon.com/ Suzlon]
* [http://altenergy.in/windpower.html Windpower farms in India - advantages and disadvantages]
* [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121191388721223483.html?mod=googlenews_wsj Suzlon's Chief Resigns After 16 Months at Helm]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/28/business/worldbusiness/28wind.html?ex=1317096000&en=abe0cd6100ea2820&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss The Ascent of Wind Power, New York Times, 2006]