Refex Industries arm to invest ₹800 crore to produce 5.3 MW wind turbines

Chennai-based Refex Group’s newly incorporated company, Venwind Refex Power Ltd, intends to invest ₹800 crore to set up manufacturing facilities for producing wind turbines with a nominal capacity of 5.3 MW.

The company, a subsidiary of the NSE-listed Refex Industries Ltd, has concluded a licence agreement with Vensys Energy AG, Germany — a leading wind turbine technology owner. Vensys is a pioneer in ‘permanent magnet, medium-speed’ generator turbines.

Refex Industries is engaged in several businesses, including refrigeration gases, renewable energy generation, ash and coal handling, power trading, pharma, medtech, and green mobility. Its founder, Anil Jain, had previously told businessline that his philosophy is to identify business opportunities and pursue them either through organic expansion or acquisition — and then leave it to professionals to run the businesses.

The group’s entry into wind turbine manufacturing was driven by Madhusudan Khemka, a wind industry veteran who set up and ran the wind turbine company ReGen Powertech until it was overwhelmed in 2017 by a sudden change in the way wind tariffs were determined — from fixed tariffs to competitively discovered tariffs.

ReGen had access to Vensys technology under a licence; Khemka knew Vensys well. He brought Vensys and the Refex Group together. The result was Venwind Refex Power Ltd.

Khemka, who advises Venwind, says the 5.3 MW turbine is based on a ‘hybrid technology’ — a combination of geared and gearless turbine designs — and is well suited for low-wind Indian sites. He said that the cut-in speed — the wind speed at which the turbine begins to operate — is as low as 2 metres per second for these machines. This makes it suitable for states like Odisha and Jharkhand, which have available land but low wind speeds.

Incidentally, the world leader in wind turbines, China’s Goldwind, uses Vensys technology.

Published on May 13, 2025