Recently, Envision Energy has received a total of nearly 2 GW of orders in the Indian wind power market. Compared with the previous megawatt-level export orders, this move has created the largest order record for a Chinese wind turbine brand to win a single overseas market.

For a long time, the strong performance of Chinese OEMs has been supported by their performance in China's local market. The international market, which is closely linked with multinational giants, is the soft underbelly of Chinese wind power OEMs. Therefore, the gigawatt-level orders received by Envision Energy in the Indian market this time are not only a reward for its long-term firm globalization, but also regarded as a big step in the globalization journey of Chinese wind power manufacturers.

The 35 MW wind farm in Kagvard, India, put into operation in October 2019, installed 14 EN-131/2.5MW smart wind turbines

In the fiercely competitive Indian market where major international wind turbine giants are fighting, how can Vision win? How does Yuanjing create a "ladder to the sky and a ship to go to sea" in the international market where you are close to hand-to-hand combat? The reporter recently interviewed Xu Gang, Global Vice President of Envision Energy.

Adhere to long-term investment layout

India's wind resources have great potential and have developed ambitious development plans. The Indian government has set a target of 450 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030.

World-renowned wind turbine companies such as Vestas and Siemens Gamesa have been active in the Indian market for the past 30 years. In India, a wind power giant with global influence such as Suzlon has also been born.

For any wind turbine manufacturer that aspires to become a global leader, the Indian market is an important part of its globalization strategy, and Vision is no exception.

According to Xu Gang, as early as 2014, Envision started to implement the first overseas wind power project in Chile, and made long-term strategic planning for the international market.

Although India is not the first overseas market that Envision is involved in, it is the market where it is most firmly deployed.

In the Indian wind power market in 2015, subsidies were facing cancellation, the price was very low, and it was difficult for wind turbines to be profitable. However, Vision entered the Indian market at this time and insisted on a long-term layout. "We can see the scale and development prospects of the Indian market. With the mission of 'solving challenges for a sustainable future of mankind', Vision has not been limited to the Chinese market since its inception, and has always adhered to a global strategic layout to promote the transformation of global green energy. "Xu Gang said.

Stick to long-termism and be a friend of time. In 2018, Envision finally won the first batch of orders for two projects totaling 233MW, and began to cultivate in India.

In 2022, also in Vietnam, the Asian market, the rush to install will make some Chinese wind turbine companies follow Chinese EPC companies and developers to "go out". Many of them do not deal directly with international customers, but more contact with Chinese-funded companies.

The Indian market is very different. Although Envision has a lot of international talents and experience, how to deal directly with Indian customers was a completely new topic for Envision at that time.

"The first two projects have helped us to further study and understand the Indian market. From the delivery of wind turbines, EPC to the final turnkey, the whole chain has been completed. We personally feel that the management of wind power projects in India is very challenging, and Like international projects in Europe and the United States, they respect the rules and have very strict agreements on contracts." Xu Gang said.

Envision India's first batch of Khagashree 198MW and Kagvard 35MW projects, installed 79 and 14 Envision Energy EN-131/2.5MW smart wind turbines respectively, all equipped with 120-meter-high all-steel towers, which were put into operation in May and October 2019. network. Up to now, the cumulative power generation of the two projects has exceeded 1.76 billion kWh, and won praise from the owners for their excellent power generation data.

The 198MW wind farm in Khagashree, India, which was put into operation in May 2019, installed 79 EN-131/2.5MW smart wind turbines.

Real knives and real guns compare products and services

Although the vision at that time was already China's leading OEM and ranked among the top OEMs in the world, in the face of a market like India, which is very different from China's domestic market, OEMs' ability to adapt to the environment, market matching capabilities, supply Chain integration capabilities, innovative R&D capabilities, rapid response capabilities, and cultural integration capabilities will all be tested in an all-round way.

According to Xu Gang, the biggest difference between the Indian market and the Chinese market is that the Indian wind power market is more rational, and investors pay more attention to LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity) and the power generation of wind farms. While some investors in the Chinese market are still "comparing the size and weight" of wind turbines, the Indian market has shifted towards improving the utilization efficiency of wind resources and the power generation of wind turbines. "India's wind power development has long been a pure commercial investment behavior. Developers will only invest in projects after they have made an account, and the wind abandonment rate is very low." Xu Gang said.

India canceled wind power subsidies three years earlier than China. In 2018, the electricity price in India was only about RMB 0.27/kWh. This prompted the local area to pay more attention to the full life cycle cost of electricity, which also made Envision accept marketization earlier in India. Baptism: Product quality, technology and service have become the "winners" in the market competition. This makes the vision of emphasizing both technology and innovation, intelligence and software more like a duck to water, and has repeatedly won in the Indian market.

In terms of wind resource conditions, there are also many low wind speed areas in the Indian market. As a pioneer of low-speed wind turbines in China, Envision redesigned the EN-131/2.5 model in order to meet the needs of the Indian market. market record. In this year's latest bid-winning project, the EN-156/3.3 model designed by Envision for low wind speeds in India once again broke the record for the diameter of the impeller in the Indian market.

High quality and reliability are not only derived from the deep cultivation of technology and the meticulous carving of details, but also based on a mature supply chain system. Product quality must be hard, and the supply chain system must be soft. One hard and one soft, showing the management philosophy of the vision.

Xu Gang said that the real PK of the supply chain is to see who has the most optimized supply chain management and the most flexible supply chain. "How to satisfy the flexibility of the supply chain and the reliability of the products at the same time depends on the Know how that the vision has always advocated, which is the core of the success of the enterprise supply chain. Only by truly understanding these components can we achieve balance, make appropriate trade-offs, and truly understand the needs of the local market. Only through standardization and scale can the approved cost be reduced.”

As a Chinese wind power technology company, Envision has the genes of "agility and diligence", which is also the key to Envision's success in the Indian market.

"Other brands of wind turbine manufacturers have slower response and product iteration speed in the Indian market than us. Basically, it takes at least half a year to a year for multinational giants such as Vestas and GE to keep up with our pace." Xu Gang said.

Fast, not only reflected in the rapid iteration of the model, but also in the fast service response.

Xu Gang told reporters that the fast service response ability does not depend on manpower, and the per capita output value and profit of Vision are very good. "The secret of our success is to solve many problems that were previously solved by the accumulation of personnel in traditional industries through systems, platforms and digital means. For example, by predicting some key nodes and actions of operation and maintenance in advance, we can optimize and solidify these things. , to minimize the staffing and use of personnel.”

Create a global strategic fulcrum

According to the statistics of Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), Envision Energy ranked first in the overseas new hoisting capacity of Chinese wind power equipment manufacturers in 2019. In 2021, Envision Energy's smart wind turbines will add 650MW of overseas installed capacity, an increase of 132%. As of the end of 2021, Envision Energy's overseas cumulative installed capacity of smart wind turbines is nearly 2GW, making it one of the brands with the largest export volume of wind turbines in China.

However, compared with multinational giants such as Vestas and GE, which have been in the global wind power market for decades, Chinese OEMs are undoubtedly rising stars.

"I have great respect for these international rivals, who have been working in the wind power industry for far longer than the prospect. But it is precisely because we are young that we are more dynamic. When facing international customers, whether it is from the product development cycle, decision-making Chain or service, we can respond to customer needs faster than our competitors." Xu Gang said.

At present, Envision’s orders in India are concentrated in the wind power sector, but with India setting ambitious renewable energy development goals and energy transition plans, the Indian market needs more comprehensive zero-carbon solutions in the future.

"In addition to wind power, our energy storage, smart, and Ark systems, including a series of zero-carbon solutions, can fully serve customers in India and the local government. This is also the unique advantage of Envision, and the overall package is zero-carbon. Solution services will be added to follow-up projects one after another." Xu Gang revealed.

In Envision's plan, its international engineering service center will be built in India to enhance Envision's global engineering service capabilities. In the future, the center will form an important fulcrum of the vision's globalization strategy together with the global innovation center in Denmark, the global wind power engineering technology center in Germany, and the global blade innovation center in the United States.

Xu Gang said frankly that the current vision also faces some challenges in the localization of India: the epidemic situation in India is still serious, and it is very difficult to fight the epidemic in terms of production and other aspects.

As Xu Gang said, the international market is the touchstone of the ability of the whole machine business. In the face of stricter foreign standards and more intense competition from multinational companies, Chinese wind power manufacturers must overcome the hurdle of the international market and prove their strength in the international market with higher gold content. Possessing the market development ability to obtain an even distribution in all regions of the world, and learning to grow in different global market environments, is also the only way for China's wind power industry to transform from "big" to "strong".

"Our journey is a sea of stars." For Envision and China's wind power manufacturers, the journey of internationalization has just begun. Editor / Zhao E