Tulsi Tanti, Suzlon chairman, unveiled the new turbine at the Amercian Wind Energy Association conference in Atlanta.
The S111, designed for IEC Class III winds, will initially be sold in North America and manufactured in India. It will later be rolled out globally.
The turbine, with a tower of 95 or 120 metres, will deliver a 20-29% per cent increase in annual energy production over Suzlon’s S97 2.1MW design, said officials.
The first prototype will be operating in late 2013, with serial production beginning in 2014.
Asked why the S111 is being launched when the US market is starting to nose-dive, Duncan Koerbel, Suzlon’s interim US chief executive, said: "We’re in this for the long-term. You can’t sit back in the tough times and just cherry pick the good times."
On why the turbine will have fibreglass rather carbon-fibre blades, he noted that fiberglass can be one-tenth of the price of carbon fibre.
"Customers look at the cost of the entire system," he said. "A design [such as carbon fibre] must earn its way into the turbine."
A 10-year warranty package will be offered with the new turbine, said John O’Halloran, president of technology for Suzlon Energy.
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