Suzlon eyes Japanese JV for offshore wind turbines - report

Aug 22, 2014 - Indian wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy (BOM:532667) is holding talks with Japanese firms, seeking to establish a potential joint venture (JV) for the production of offshore with turbines in Japan, Bloomberg said today, citing chairman Tulsi Tanti.

The low borrowing costs in Japan have attracted the wind turbine manufacturer’s attention, Tanti told the news agency. However, he did not provide the name of the Japanese firms Suzlon is negotiating with.

The Japanese market also provides opportunities due to the government's efforts to promote renewables after the Fukushima disaster in 2011. Attractive feed-in tariffs (FiTs) for offshore wind power were introduced in April, of JPY 36 (USD 0.347/EUR 0.261) per 1 kWh. According to the Japan Wind Power Association (JWPA), the country is expected to have 75 GW of installed wind power capacity in 2050, both on- and offshore, as compared to an earlier goal of 50 GW.

Cash-strapped Suzlon expects to return to profit in its fourth quarter through March 2015 and pay down most of its INR-80-billion (USD 1.3bn/EUR 996m) debt by the end of fiscal 2014/15, Tanti told business news channel CNBC-TV18 earlier this month. The Indian firm narrowed its net loss to INR 7.56 billion in its first fiscal quarter through June from INR 10.61 billion a year earlier.

(JPY 100 = USD 0.964/EUR 0.726; INR 100 = USD 1.655/EUR 1.245)

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