Friday, July 25, 2008

WIND: Pune Billionaire Chases GE With Wind Turning on Cracked Blades

This may be the most in-depth piece on Suzlon available.
From Bloomberg:
The lights snap off in the five-story, gray-concrete building in Pune, India, where Suzlon Energy Ltd. -- the fastest growing of the world's top five wind turbine makers -- has its headquarters. After 30 seconds of darkness, the fluorescent bulbs flicker on as backup generators kick in.

``For us, it's routine,'' says Tulsi Tanti, Suzlon's billionaire founder. ``You have to understand the country's limitation and, within that, develop your business.''

Tanti, 50, made his fortune in a decade by supplying wind power to Indian companies struggling with blackouts and soaring energy costs. The entrepreneur got his start in 1993, when he bought two turbines to reduce the electricity bills at his textile company in the western state of Gujarat.

Tanti's employees dug the foundations, installed the towers and connected the turbines to India's overburdened power grid -- taking advantage of government incentives that let the firm swap the wind power it generated for the electricity it used.

``Within two years, we understood the economics and dynamics of the industry and realized wind is a good source,'' Tanti says. ``Why not focus on that industry?''

Suzlon Energy started in 1995 and now ranks as the No. 5 turbine maker worldwide....MUCH MORE