Present Status of Wind Energy In India
- Carbon di-oxide (CO2) being the main culprit for global climate changes, the world is focussing on development and installation of wind energy farms.
- It is estimated that global wind power capacity is 74 GW and India has 20000 MW out of the gross capacity of 45000 MW.
- A ministry of non-conventional energy resources (MNES) was established in India which monitors the development of wind power and other renewable sources of energy.
- Due to the efforts of Govt. of India today we rank fourth in the world with regard to the total wind power installation after Germany, Denmark and USA.
- The wind power generation India was started in 1994-95 with installed capacity of 230 MW. The installed wind power generator capacity upto September 2006 was 6018 MW out of which 1080 MW was installed in the year 2006 itself.
- Therefore, we find that wind power generation in India is growing at rapid rate. The wind power potential in India is given in Table.
MNES is providing lot of incentives for development of wind farms. Today, there are about 30 company which are involved in wind energy sector in India which are engaged in manufacture of wind turbines and components.
|
State |
Potential in MW |
|
Andra Pradesh |
2200 |
|
Gujrat |
3100 |
|
Karnatak |
4120 |
|
Kerala |
1380 |
|
Madhya Pradesh |
1920 |
|
Orrisa |
840 |
|
Rajasthan |
1210 |
|
TamilNadu |
1900 |
|
West Bengal |
1180 |
|
Other State |
2150 |
|
Total |
20000 |
- Some of the important company which are connected with wind energy are Suzlon, Rashron energy and Auto Ltd., Energy systems Pvt. Ltd. NEG Mican etc.
- MNES has helped to build the infrastructure for development of wind power it is providing tax holidays, availability of funds at low interests, clearance of projects at state level, extension of grid connection to wind farms and executing dedicated new sub-stations.
- The capital cost of wind power generation at present is about Rs. 4 crores/MW with generation cost of Rs. 2.25 – Rs.2.5 per kWh.
- Problems associated power generation are high upfront cost of wind power generation, low plant load factor, poor institutional work and unstable policies of state Govt.
- Efforts are being made to develop at low cost, indigenous, horizontal axis wind energy generators of 500 kW rating having two blades and tower will be tubular with guys.
- Many organisations are helping in this direction. It will be suitable for Indian conditions having low wind speeds and dusty environment. Govt of India has set up 1150 wind monitoring / mapping stations in 25 states and unit territories.
Conclusion :
We conclude that the wind power generation in India has a bright future since generation rate is increasing almost at 25% to 30% in the last decade. It is further likely to be accelerated and by year 2012 we may be able achieve almost 50% of India’s potential of wind energy generation.