Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani today inaugurated a wind power blade manufacturing plant of wind turbine manufacturer Vestas at Bavla in Ahmedabad.

Vestas, a Denmark-based firm is the world’s largest wind turbine maker. Vestas stepped in India in 1989, it was among the earlier entrants here. However, it practically quit India in 2012, after having sold machines worth 3 GW.

It technically re-entered India in 2014. In 2015-16, not a single Vestas machine was installed in the country.

But then the company was back with a bang. It bagged orders from two wind energy companies and installed 46 MW for one of them and 10 MW out of the other’s order for 40 MW.

The company has put up a blade plant in Gujarat, investing 50 million euros ($54 million), which will bring out India’s first locally-made carbon-fibre blades.

These blades are stronger and lighter than the conventional glass-fibre blades by about 25 per cent. This –works out to about 2.5 tonnes a blade, or 7.5 tonnes lesser weight on top of the tower.

The machines that Vestas is selling today – the 2 MW, V 110 – are also carbon-fibre, but they are imported.

Making the blades locally will be cheaper and also save transportation costs, allowing Vestas to drop prices.

Speaking on this occasion, Gujarat Chief Minister thanked the company for taking youths from Gujarat to Denmark and America for three months in order to train them to work in new plant at Bavla. He said this is actual realization of ‘Make in Gujarat’. Rupani pointed out that rate of wind power has come down from about Rs 15 to Rs 3.60 per unit. Rupani said Gujarat generates 4700 MW through wind energy. The state targets to generate another 1000 MW power through wind power in next one year. The Chief Minister further said that the states that don’t have enough wind flow to generate wind power will be supplied power from Gujarat. He said, as per MoU signed, the company has set up this plant in just one year. Gujarat plant of Vestas will manufacture wind power generation blades for 500 MW per year. Today further MoUs are signed today for even more production in Gujarat.

Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) for 1,000 MW wind power generation was signed between Gujarat govt arm Gujarat Energy Development Agency(GEDA) and Vestas.

DeshGujarat