Chinese Firm Envision Secures Top Position as India's Leading Wind Turbine Supplier with 5 GW Orders

05 Oct, 2023

Chinese Firm Envision Secures Top Position as India's Leading Wind Turbine Supplier with 5 GW Orders

Envision Wind Power, a prominent Chinese wind turbine manufacturer, has emerged as the foremost supplier of wind turbines in India, amassing a remarkable cumulative order volume of 5 GW since the fiscal year 2017-18. This remarkable achievement has allowed Envision to surpass well-established competitors such as Suzlon and Siemens Gamesa in the Indian wind energy market.

In the fiscal year 2022-23 alone, Envision secured orders totaling 2 GW in India. Impressively, in the ongoing financial year, the company has already surpassed the 2.35 GW mark in order bookings. According to Inder Singh Bhambra, Country Head for Business Development and Sales, Envision is highly optimistic about booking over 3 GW in orders for the fiscal year 2023-24.

A significant portion of Envision's 5 GW in turbine sales materialized within the last two years, reflecting the company's rapid growth and success in the Indian market.

Founded in China in 2009 by entrepreneur Lei Zhang, Envision Wind Power has evolved into one of the world's leading wind turbine manufacturers. The company initiated its operations in India in 2018 and achieved a major milestone by securing its first order in 2019, a 197.5 MW contract from Sprng Alt Energy (now part of Shell) in Gujarat. This achievement marked a watershed moment as it represented the first success of a Chinese wind turbine manufacturer in India, a market where previous Chinese players, such as Sinovel and Ming Yang, had struggled to gain traction.

However, Envision encountered initial challenges in India. Credit rating agency CARE placed Sprng Alt Energy under watch due to a disagreement between the EPC contractor (Envision) and the company concerning liquidated damages related to project commissioning delays. The plant remained non-operational for several months from December 9, 2020. Despite this setback, Envision managed to make significant progress in the Indian market.

RPV Prasad, CEO of the India Region at Envision, proudly stated, "We are the largest in India in terms of order bookings."

UB Reddy, Managing Director of Enerfra, a Bengaluru-based EPC company responsible for constructing the Sprng Energy project, praised Envision's turbines for their exceptional performance. These turbines quickly reached peak capacity, far outpacing the typical month-long timeframe. Moreover, the machines demonstrated an uptime exceeding 99%, surpassing the contracted 97%. Annual electricity generation also exceeded expectations at approximately 3.4 million kWhr, surpassing other turbine models.

Envision initially produced turbines with a nominal capacity of 2.5 MW but now supplies 3.3 MW machines from its nacelle manufacturing plant in Pune. Additionally, the company recently inaugurated its first blade manufacturing facility in India, located in Tiruchy, Tamil Nadu.

Some of Envision's prominent customers include ReNew, Sembcorp, Vibrant Energy, and Serentica Renewables. Bhambra emphasized that Envision's 3.3 MW turbine performs exceptionally well in low wind-speed conditions, a crucial advantage as India aims to expand its wind power capacity from 44 GW to 100 GW by 2030, including less windy sites like Odisha. Envision Wind Power's rapid rise to prominence in the Indian wind energy sector underscores its commitment to sustainable energy solutions and innovation.