Buoyed With Higher Wind Capacity Additions In FY24, Suzlon Sees Bright Days Ahead

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Bolstered by the surged capacity additions of wind energy in 2023-24, Indian wind energy firm Suzlon is anticipating higher industry growth in India in the next two financial years. The firm’s top management shared this information during its latest investor call, which was held to discuss the Q3 results of FY24.

The latest investors call transcript submitted by Suzlon before the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) cited the top management’s views on the likely growth of the sector in India till FY27. It comes at a time when, unlike the sector’s slow growth in India, the country witnessed the addition of 2.1 GW in the first nine months of FY24. During the call, JP Chalasani, Group Chief Executive of Suzlon, said that India might achieve the target of 8GW of wind additions in the next few years. 

“There is going to be an improvement from year-on-year. For example, we (India) have struggled in the last five years to do anywhere between 1.5 to 2.1 GW, whereas this year, in the first nine months, we did 2.1 GW. So there is an improvement. There is a wish in the complete industry, including government, that we (India) should hit 8 GW a year. Whether that will happen in FY — definitely not in FY25. It will happen in FY26 and FY27 is what we will wait and see,” Chalasani told the investors during the call, the call transcripts submitted by Suzlon said. 

“But the capacity building is happening. There are more and more players coming in terms of providing BoP services. But then how much — how quickly and how fast they can do plus the issues like, as I said, one is the capacity, second is a land-related issue are continuing to grow. But that problem is reduced once we do the multi-state bidding. But then the concentration of projects won’t happen,” the Group Chief Executive of Suzlon added.

However, he also lamented over the hurdles of delays due to land acquisition in some states like Karnataka. He also talked about the opening up of states like Andhra Pradesh for new wind projects.

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“Today, Karnataka is at its peak. If you go to Karnataka, then you see how people are really struggling to get even one footprint. With the new bidding coming up and the bidding for MP, they are bidding for other places, now slowly Andhra Pradesh is opening up. And if you see our — the metrics order, but number of states what we’re getting the orders is diversifying it. If that happens, obviously, your land problems also would come down. So therefore, we slowly reach towards a 8 MW. But then we won’t be able to get this stage, maybe by FY27,” he said. 

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Elaborating more on the problems faced by the EPC players in the wind sector in terms of land acquisition, Chalasani said that as land is a state subject, the developers need to work with the local authorities to settle issues. 

“So even if there is a process, implementation could become potentially an issue. This will continue. If it’s a revenue land, we have it a little more easier. If it’s a private land, it’s more cumbersome. Some states have more and more — and from state to state, it differs. Maybe if you go to Rajasthan, it’s much quicker. But today, Karnataka is difficult. So it varies. But this is a problem which we need to live with where we are. Sometimes it’s easier; sometimes, it’s tougher. And we need to continue,” he said.

3.2 GW of orderbook for Suzlon 

Meanwhile, the Suzlon management also said that its total orders stood at 3,157 MW. This included the additional orders of 867 MW from Everrenew and Evren. The wind energy firm also said that the order from Evren, a Brookfield entity, of 642 MW had been the single largest order won by Suzlon in India.