Alternative energy: China taking the wind out of India’s sails

India clearly had a head-start over China in the wind energy sector. But given the pace at which things are moving in the two countries, it is just a matter of time before China overtakes India in the total installed capacity and net annual additions.

Comparisons, though inevitable, are odious. Especially if India and China are the players involved. It is quite common to hear Indian companies ruefully talk about the advantage that their counterparts in China enjoy, because of which Chinese manufacturers are able to plan capacities that are enormous and aggressively price their products and compete on a global level.
This advantage that China enjoys is not confined to manufacturing alone. Take the wind power industry, where India clearly had a head-start, but China is slowly but surely catching up. Given the pace at which things are moving in the two countries, it is just a matter of time before China overtakes India in the total installed capacity and net annual additions. For this, India has no one to blame but itself.

The wind power industry in the two countries is quite similar — most of the global manufacturers of wind turbines have a manufacturing presence in the two, either through joint ventures or on their own. Where India is different is that its market leader is a domestic manufacturer — Suzlon — which has aggressively expanded its presence not just within the country but abroad too and also across the spectrum of turbine manufacture. In China, the domestic turbine industry now accounts for less than half the turbines installed.

Consider the figures recently released by the Global Wind Energy Council, an international forum for the wind energy sector: Over 20,000 MW of wind power was added in the world in 2007 led by the US, China and Spain. China added 3,449 MW during the year and now ranks fifth in installed wind energy capacity with over 6,000 MW at the end of 2007. In comparison, India added 1,730 MW during 2007 taking its total installed capacity to about 8,000 MW, enough to retain its fourth position globally in terms of total installed capacity.

The Hindu Business Line