Suzlon to spend $25M to fix wind turbines

Pune, India-based wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy said today that cracks were discovered on the blades of some of its S88 turbines in the U.S.

The company said it would spend $25 million on a retrofit program to fix the problems.

"We have a close working relationship with our customers, and this program is a proactive measure to safeguard the interest of all our stakeholders," said Andre Horbach, CEO of Suzlon.

"The retrofit program is designed to minimize impact for our customers and Suzlon."

The company said the retrofit involves the structural strengthening of 1,251 blades, or 417 sets of blades, on 2.1 megawatt turbines.

Suzlon said 930 of the problem blades are already installed while the remaining blades are in transit or inventory.

"We expect no impact on the order and execution pipeline," said Horbach.

The company said it would maintain a rolling stock of temporary replacement blades to minimize the downtime for operational turbines, and expects the retrofit to be completed over a period of six months.

Suzlon, which said it has a combined manufacturing base of 2,700 MW of annual capacity, plans to use its blade manufacturing and service facility in Pipestone, Minn., for the retrofit.