Bengaluru, May 7, 2015: T?? Rheinland Industrie Service GmbH along with TUV Rheinland (India) Pvt Ltd and Chennai based National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), have announced that they have signed a co-operation agreement to collaborate in certification of wind turbines for the Indian/international market with a focus on type and component certification for onshore and offshore wind turbines/wind power projects.

NIWE is an autonomous institution of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India, engaged in offering various services in the wind energy sector such as Wind Resource Assessment, R&D, Training, Type Testing and Type Certification of Wind Turbines, etc.

T?? Rheinland Industrie Service GmbH, Germany, is an internationally accredited certification body for the type and component certification of onshore and offshore wind turbines in accordance with international and national standards by the German Accreditation Body "DAkkS" as well as an inspection body. TUV Rheinland (India) Pvt Ltd is a subsidiary of the Germany based T?? Rheinland Group, a worldwide leader in Testing, Inspection, Certification, Consulting and Training, etc.

Through their collaboration, TUV Rheinland and NIWE would jointly offer their services for the wind energy sector particularly to designers and manufacturers of wind turbines and components as well as project developers, Independent Power Producers (IPP), operators, investors and insurance companies needing the technical services. They will also work together on project certification, testing of wind turbines and will be available for additional technical services.

T?? Rheinland has therefore expanded its local presence in India with qualified wind energy experts.

"This new collaboration with a globally renowned partner in the Indian market is a further milestone in the expansion of TUV Rheinland's focused activities in the wind energy industry," said Mr Thomas Fuhrmann, CEO & Managing Director, TUV Rheinland India. "With many years of experience and a high degree of expertise and recognition, NIWE is the ideal partner for our business in India."

Dr S Gomathinayagam, Director General, NIWE said, "We are delighted to have collaborated with T?? Rheinland, an experienced technology partner with longstanding experience and engineering expertise in testing and certification that has been on the Indian market for almost 20 years. This co-operation agreement is an achievement on positive Indo-German collaboration and capacity building as emphasized in the RE-INVEST Meet of MNRE, which was inaugurated by Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, held during 15-17th February 2015 at New Delhi and duly followed-up in Hannover Messe, Germany, in April 2015, where India was a partner country."

"Through a local presence, flexible collaboration with NIWE and correspondingly lean processes, we can offer Indian customers from the wind energy industry active interaction and support for the Indian market." said Mr Benedikt Anselmann, Vice President Industrial Services, TUV Rheinland India. "From a customer perspective, considerably shorter lead times would generate excellent added value."

With this co-operation, TUV Rheinland and NIWE jointly offer manufacturers, operators, investors, IPPs and insurance companies a comprehensive range of services for the wind energy industry (onshore and offshore).

This co-operation agreement highlights the importance of certification for the orderly development of wind energy sector ensuring the international quality, performance and safety for achieving the ambitious target set by Government of India of 60,000 MW wind energy capacity by 2022.