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Suzlon announces blade retrofit |
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Written by jonathan pitzer
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Wednesday, 02 April 2008 |
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Suzlon Energy Limited (SEL), the world’s fifth leading and India’s largest wind turbine manufacturer announced a retrofit program to resolve blade cracking issues discovered during the operations of some of its S88 turbines in the United States. The retrofit program involves the structural strengthening of 1,251 (417 sets) blades on S-88 (2.1 MW) turbines, of which 930 blades are already installed while the remaining blades are in transit or inventory.
“We have a close working relationship with our customers, and this program is a proactive measure to safeguard the interest of all our stakeholders. The retrofit program is designed to minimize impact for our customers and Suzlon,” said Mr. Andre Horbach, CEO – Suzlon Group. The retrofit program will be carried out by maintaining a rolling stock of temporary replacement blades, to minimize the downtime for operational turbines, and will be completed over a period of six months. The program will utilize Suzlon’s strong global technical capabilities and its blade manufacturing and service facility in Pipestone, Minnesota, for US Blades.. “The company, with its integrated global value chain and in-house blade design and manufacturing capabilities is well-equipped to resolve the issue within a short timeframe and cost efficient manner. We are in close contact with all out customers and are keeping them fully informed of the progress. We expect no impact on the order and execution pipeline,” Mr. Horbach added. The total estimated cost of the retrofit program is estimated at INR 100 crores (USD 25 million), for which a provision will be made in Q4 of FY08. |
