ASIA

Chennai Port to build wind farm

20 years ago

Chennai Port Trust has announced plans to build a wind farm at a cost of $16.8m. The tender is due to be issued shortly for what will be the first project of its kind undertaken by Indian ports. Chennai Port annually consumes 30m units costing $6.7m, which the governing body believes can be cut by half as a result of energy derived from the wind farm. This would be supplied to the National Grid and then drawn down as required. The Port Trust calculates that a return on investment will be made within three to four years.

Instead,crane suppliers and producers of material handling equipment have now migrated to the private ports sector for work. Similar problems also beset private sector participation in statemanaged port projects.