Indian companies order 300MW in wind power

Karnataka, India-based iron ore exporter MSPL ordered a 13.75 megawatt wind farm from Suzlon Energy (BOM: 532667). The plant is expected to be completed in the southern Indian state of Karnataka by March 2009.

Suzlon had previously built three other wind farms for MSPL with a combined total capacity of 124 MW.

The wind turbine maker has over 50 percent of market share in wind power in India and has said it plans to supply another 1.5 gigawatts of wind energy in Karnataka over the next three years. The company has a 4.1 GW wind power capacity spread out in provinces such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.

Last month Suzlon announced it would buy the remaining stake in Germany's REpower Systems (BER: RPW.BE), though the deal is expected to go through six months later than planned (see Report: Suzlon resumes bid for REpower shares).

Suzlon also recently announced its first investments in the solar power sector (see Suzlon moves into solar power).

Tata Power, India's largest private power utility, also announced additional wind power investments. Tata Power Managing Director Prasad Menon said the company plans to increase its wind power production capacity from 200 MW to 500 MW by 2011.

Menon also said Tata is considering launching the electric version of its Indica model in India sooner than planned if the government provides financial subsidies. The electric Indica had previously been expected to launch in India in 2010 (see Electrovaya, Tata Motors to make electric Indica). An electric version of the Tata Nano is also being considered for release in India.