Mr Tulsi Tanti CMD of Suzlon Group said that wind turbine maker Suzlon will set up offshore wind energy projects in the UK and plans to build a manufacturing facility on the coast to facilitate this.

Earlier, speaking at One Earth, Suzlon's global headquarters in Pune, Mr Gregory Barker the UK's minister of state for climate change said that the UK wanted to be the ‘Saudi Arabia of offshore wind energy' and it was necessary to manufacture turbines locally to make deploying wind energy economically viable. He said that “We are keen to engage with manufacturers around the world and welcome Suzlon as an essential partner.”

Though through REpower Suzlon has installed and commissioned 500 MW in the UK, Mr Tanti said that the company was expanding its operations in the offshore segment. The logistics and 150 m size of the rotor blade and huge turbines did not make it viable to build them elsewhere, so a port based facility would be required. He said that “To establish CAPEX, scale is required. Next year we will plan for capacity in the UK.”

(Sourced from BL)