Dear Shareholders,
The defining focus for the global economy over the past year has been
the slow road to recovery, and even as governments and policy makers
tried to make this a sustainable recovery, the central issue facing the
world today remains energy and how we meet our growing need for it.
The evidence is clearly before us, there are today 1.5 billion people
around the world with no regular access to powerno light, no
electricity for basic day-to-day appliances, and no power to
operate machines for agriculture, or to pump water. A lack
of access to energy for them results in no access to food,
water or decent health facilities.
Sustainable development requires we not only focus on urban
development, but bringing basic and essential development to those
who need it the most.
With sustainable development as a clear priority alongside climate
change and energy security concerns, a roadmap to a sustainable energy
mix is clearly a global priority.
Over the past year the wind energy sector has continued to consolidate
its position as a mature, cost effective and increasingly mainstream
source of power. Global macro- economic trends have had a visible
impact on the growth of the sector with growing momentum in emerging
markets, and offshore wind showing strong promise in select mature
markets.
The increasingly large scale of projects and advances in technology,
alongside external factors like increasing volatility in fossil fuel
supplies and prices, have reinforced wind''s position as a cost
competitive power source in comparison with conventional fuels.
Industry estimates show that the cost of wind power has come down by
over 30 per cent in just the last three years, and a recently published
report by the US Energy Information Administration projects that, by
2016, wind will be cheaper than even coal in pure
cost-per-kilowatt/hour terms.
However, wind today competes as not only a cost effective energy
source, but as a sustainable, environment-friendly and long-term energy
solution. With the developing world''s ever increasing need for power,
and the global need for more secure energy supplies there is no doubt
that wind will be the key renewable resource for the world in the
years to come.
This is reflected in the rapid growth of wind in key growth markets the
world over. Emerging markets have delivered strong growth, India our
home market showed strong momentum which we see continuing over the
mid-term. Other emerging markets, such as Brazil, China and South
Africa, offer strong potential and remain a priority for us. Our depth
of experience in emerging economies, as well as our unique business
model, put us in an extremely strong position to compete in these high
growth markets.
While some developed markets continued to present a challenging
environent due to macro-economic challenges, Europe''s 20 per cent by
2020 renewable targets, alongside developments like Germany''s recent
decision to shut down its nuclear plants and Australia fixing a price
for carbon have all put in place strong drivers for the wind sector.
With Europe''s limitations in land area, the opportunity for this growth
is clearly offshore. And with REpower''s leadership in offshore wind
technology, this is again a market we are well positioned in.
Looking at our business performance, we have over the past year focused
on driving improvements on all our key operational parameters and the
results are clearly seen in the steady improvement in our Group
performance over the fiscal.
In terms of strategic priorities, with a challenging global economic
environment and a highly competitive wind market we have placed a
high priority on technology and innovation with a focus area lowering
the cost for energy from wind making wind more competitive, and
therefore more mainstream.
As part of this strategic focus on technology, we have over the
year successfully taken to market the Suzlon S9X suite and the REpower
3XM, both of which have found wide marketplace acceptance and major
orders. These turbines have been designed with improved aerodynamic
efficiency, larger rotor diameters and increased hub heights to deliver
greater Plant Load Factor (PLF) and yields in medium-to-low wind
regimes. These products are key to our future growth strategy as the
wind sector shifts from high-wind sites which are in now in
relatively short supply the world over to the more abundant
medium-to-low wind speed sites. With these new offerings and our fleet
availability (uptime) maintained at over 97 per cent, we present a
compelling and attractive value proposition to ourcustomers.
In another key step forward, we crossed the 95 per cent holding in our
German subsidiary, REpower Systems SE, allowing us to trigger
squeeze-out proceedings towards achieving 100 per cent ownership.
REpower, with its leadership in offshore technology with offshore
wind energy projected to grow at nearly 40 per cent CAGR and
strong position in key developed markets, forms an important parto four
strategy.
Looking ahead, I believe we are strongly positioned to compete and win
in the global marketplace. We have focused our effortson fivekey areas:
First, market positioning: our decision to focus on emerging markets
like Brazil, China, India and South Africa, and Europe and UK for
offshore, has clearly been well founded with these markets driving
growth for the entire sector. With our global reach, customer
relationships with 11 out of the top 15 wind customers, high
reliability and uptime, 17 GW of installations including 220 MW
installed and nearly 600 MW in development offshore we present a
compelling value proposition.
Second, product portfolio: from the latest S9X and 3XM offerings, to
the REpower 6M the world''s largest commercially available wind
turbine we have the the widest product portfolio, and a turbine for
every type of site in the world.
Third, low-cost manufacturing and supply chain: with our manufacturing
base concentrated in low-cost countries we have among the lowest
production costs in the industry. At a time when the wind industry is
still exploring manufacturing in India and China, we are successfully
leveraging our well developed and mature lowcost supplychain in these
countries.
Fourth, consolidation: with the current economic climate there is an
opportunity for consolidation in the sector; at Suzlon we have the
opportunity to achieve this within the Group. We have rationalized and
strengthened internal processes, leading to improved efficiency and
effectiveness across all keyoperational parameters.
Fifth, performance: we have placed a strong emphasis on strengthening
our balance sheet, optimizing our debt profile, and building a strong
orderbook. We believe that the steady and consistent improvement in our
Group financial performance over the past five quarters underscores
that we are headed in the right direction, and that our strategy is
delivering.
Looking at the big picture, what all this adds up to is our commitment
to powering sustainable development the world over. With over 17 GW of
wind turbines already installed, and new projects going into the ground
every day, we are helping generate the power that will drive the
sustainable,low carbon economy of tomorrow.
I firmly believe we are on the road to a bright future, and on behalf
of the entire Suzlon family 13,000 strong and working across 32
countries on six continents I thank you for your support,
perseverance and encouragement in making a greener tomorrow a
reality, today.
Regards,
Tulsi R. Tanti
Chairman and Managing Director
Pune, June 2011
|