INDIA’S AWARD WINNING FLAGSHIP POWERING A GREENER TOMORROW
INDIA’S AWARD WINNING FLAGSHIP
POWERING A GREENER TOMORROW
At the 2021 COP26 climate summit, India’s Prime Minister laid out his country’s plans for an additional 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030.
Solidifying its position as a leader in renewable energy, in 2022 India produced 163 gigawatts of installed renewable energy capacity, making it the fourthleading nation in renewable power capacity worldwide.
Supporting the country’s renewable energy growth is award-winning pioneer of wind energy, Suzlon Energy.
Boasting nearly 30 years in the renewable energy space, Suzlon has been recognised internationally, receiving awards such as the Economic Times ‘Energy Company of the Year 2023’. The recognition highlights Suzlon’s significant contributions to the development and promotion of the renewable energy industry in the country.
Additionally, The Economic Times awarded Suzlon ‘Sustainable
SUZLON PROJECT DIRECTED BY: JESS COLLINS ARTICLE WRITTEN BY: LAURA WATLING
Organizations 2023’, which identifies that Suzlon has demonstrated a remarkable commitment to integrated planning, development, and monitoring of sustainability in order to achieve sustainable development goals.
Marshal Fernandes, CFO Suzlon Energy Aus Pty Ltd has most recently been recognised by Acquisition International as Global CFO Excellence Award Winner 2023 and Most Innovative International Renewable Energy Solutions CFO 2023.
Marshal spoke with Business Enquirer about Suzlon’s international expertise, and how it is working towards its vision of becoming the best renewable energy company in the world.
CFO Marshal Fernandes
Optimize Asset Performance with SkySpecs
Wind farm owners and operators don’t always have a clear picture of asset health. By partnering with SkySpecs, our customers develop a robust, proactive approach to maintenance and repairs that saves them valuable operational downtime.
SkySpecs’ purpose-built drone and software solutions were developed specifically for the wind industry and capture the highest quality turbine blade data. Our AI analysis process gives SkySpecs customers a crystal clear picture of asset health, allowing them to focus their budget and resources on the most critical repair needs.
SkySpecs has performed over 200,000 inspections worldwide, and our dedicated in-house team has successfully assisted thousands of customers in optimizing their wind farm operations.
Uncover the power of precision and explore how Skyspecs can enhance your inspection management process today.
Prevention is Better than Reaction:
The Asset Management Company Reducing Down Time and Improving Efficiency in the Wind Energy Sector
When it comes to building a successful business, SkySpecs CEO, Danny Ellis, believes that collaboration is key across the spectrum: from the staff the business hires to the customers they serve.
Danny never set out to be an entrepreneur, cofounding SkySpecs out of a senior design project during his studies to become an aerospace engineer at the University of Michigan.
“I’ve learned the importance of hiring people smarter than me, surrounding myself with people who are experts in their field. My role within the business now is to knock down the roadblocks in the way of the experts, and ensure the resources are available for them to thrive,” said Danny, when speaking with Business Enquirer.
With a youthful leader at the helm of the business (having been recognised in Forbes 2016 30 Under 30, and more recently the 2023 Michigan Entrepreneur of the Year), Danny and his team have implemented internal initiatives to create a “Culture of Belonging”.
”We see ourselves as much more than just a tech company. We’re a group of like-minded, kind, and talented people who love to collaborate and solve the industry’s hardest problems together.” explained Danny, “we are founded on an ethos of hard work, collaboration, and teamwork”.
Whilst born out of Danny’s passion for “things that fly”, in SkySpecs' instance, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs or drones), the business has grown
Prevention is Better than Reaction:
The Asset Management Company Reducing Down Time and Improving Efficiency in the Wind Energy Sector
to offer far more than drones. In its 12th year of business, SkySpecs offers a holistic, turn-key, asset management service to its customers.
From inspection to performance monitoring, blade services, CMS services, and financial asset management, there is one thing unique to SkySpecs: its focus is entirely on wind energy.
“Through three European acquisitions, we are now able to offer complete coverage on all assets, going beyond just the blades. Our goal is to make wind energy the most efficient energy source in the world,” Danny explained.
In January 2024, SkySpecs announced the launch of SkySpecs Performance, after the successful acquisition of i4SEE in 2023.
The cutting-edge product integrates SCADA-based performance monitoring and component health assessment on a fleet scale, providing unparalleled insights and efficiency to wind turbine operators.
SkySpecs Performance employs an automated system that continuously evaluates turbine performance, enabling rapid detection and diagnosis of potential issues. A team of domain experts, boasting decades of experience in wind turbine operations is readily available to deliver prioritised recommendations and valuable insights.
“With 1.5-2 megawatt wind turbines now reaching 10 years of life, assets are more susceptible to issues if they’re not discovered early. Our holistic offering supports predictive maintenance, which will reduce the need for replacement parts and equipment, and costly downtime,” explained Danny.
It is anticipated that SkySpecs' innovative solutions will set a new standard in wind energy operations. With offices across the globe (USA, India, Austria, Denmark, and Ireland) SkySpecs has carried out 200,000+ inspections in more than 30 countries, including 2000 in Australia where it collaborates with key customer, Suzlon.
SkySpecs purpose-built autonomous drones
perform at record-setting inspection speed to minimise downtime while capturing the highestquality blade data.
Its AI analysis process and machine learning tools provide detailed analysis of the inspections via its blade asset management platform, Horizon.
“The Horizon platform ensures clients have the data and insights they need to allow them to focus their budget and resources on the most critical repair needs with confidence,” shared SkySpecs’ Account Executive for Suzlon, Sean Stegemen.
Building a strong and collaborative relationship with Suzlon, SkySpecs carries out all turbine inspections for the renewable energy solutions provider in Australia.
“Our work with Suzlon has enabled us to broaden our reach as we strengthen our partnership with them. It’s exciting to grow alongside them and expand our impact in new markets,” added Sean.
Another innovative addition to SkySpecs' offering is its CMS Services, a predictive drivetrain service that scales to meet asset managers’ needs, enabling them to make data-driven decisions.
“Our goal here is to go beyond pretty dashboards by delivering the next level of insights to enable owners and operators to make data-driven decisions and optimise their resources, both financially and from a staffing perspective,” said Danny.
Combining human expertise with advanced technology SkySpecs CMS Services helps clients to reduce downtime, improve O&M planning, and reduce repair costs.
“CMS Services also provides actionable advice on all drivetrain mechanical and equipment faults, troubleshooting, and prioritisation which is where we are aiming to push the business forward,” said Danny, “We are truly trying to partner with our customers. We want to help solve their problems together and enable them to deliver the most efficient energy generation in the world”.
Innovating Efficiencies
Suzlon offers a 360-degree solutions to its customers, covering the entire spectrum of wind energy projects. With over 12,780 wind turbines installed across six continents and 14 world-class manufacturing units in India, Suzlon wind energy solutions have become the byword for innovation and competitive advantage.
In 2023, Suzlon became the first Indian multinational business to produce 20 gigawatts of wind energy and is number four in the world in terms of installed capacity.
Suzlon provides its customers with an all-encompassing solution to wind energy projects in the form of its Wind Turbine Generators (WTGs). Its innovative WTGs feature state-of-the-art technology across their blades, nacelle, towers and foundations.
“Customers choose Suzlon because our WTGs carry the hallmark of reliability and sustainability, and have a proven track record of enabling customers maximise their return on investments by focusing on innovation and improvements,” explained Marshal.
Suzlonpridesitselfonworkingclosely withitscustomerstofindthebest solutionsfortheirneeds,whilst incorporatingvalueaddedproductsto increaseefficiencies.
Recently,Suzlonhasimplemented suchinnovationsforclientsinAustralia, implementingdronesforbladeinspection andestablishinglocalrepairshops.
SuzlonimplementsPeriodicSoftware UpgradeswhichensuresthebestHSE practicesaremaintainedinoperating theturbines.Theseupgradesboostan Increaseof3%-5%AnnualisedEnergy Production(AEP)foritsclients
Additionally,itoffersInnovative EngineeringSolutionstooptimisecost anddown-timeforthecustomer.This includesUptowerrepairsofturbine components,eliminatingtheneedforthe traditionalcranesthatareveryexpensive.
“Expandingthebusinessofferingin thiswaymeansthatwecanhelpour customerstobecomemoreefficient,” sharedMarshal.
Itslocalrefurbishmentofmajorand criticalcomponentssuchasgenerators, gearboxes,andmainbearingsasopposed toreplacingwithnewcomponents reducesleadtimesandcost. Atthesame time,thisexerciseaidsthedevelopment oflocalbusinessesandcreateslocaljob opportunities.
www.suzlon.com
