Indian energy major Essar is foraying the renewables energy sector with a licence agreement with Germany's Re Power to manufacture and market 1.5 MW wind turbines in India and south-east Asia.The two companies have agreed to set up a joint venture in the near future, which will allow access to 3MW and 5MW turbines as well other future developments and wider market reach.A senior Essar Power official said the Indian market is now ready for bigger turbines of 1.5-2 MW and the demand for these is growing as several MNcs are looking at setting up wind farms in India.This is the second time in a fortnight that a European wind energy major has announced plans for India. Early this fortnight, Danish renewables major Vestas had announced plans to go it alone in India and divested from their Indian joint venture, Vestas RRB India.The Essar plant is expected to be set up in a port-based location which will be finalised soon. The initial investment in the plant is in the region of Rs 50 crore and this will be financed through internal resources. The compnay expects to start commercial production by the middle of next year.India with approximately 5300 MW of installed wind power capacity is expectd to see an additional capacity of 1700-1800MW in the current financial year. The Indian market for wind energy is the largest in Asia and the fourth largest on a global scale. India has wind resources to harvest around 45,000 MW power.
