I came across an interesting report titled, 'Indian Wind Energy Outlook 2011' published by WISE, GWEC & IWTMA. I am presenting some statistics/points mentioned in that report which gives an introduction to the wind energy scenario in India (till the end of 2010). All the statistics/scenarios provided below are as of 2010-end.
Total installed wind power in India (by the end of 2010): 13 GW+ . In the year of 2010 alone, India installed 2.1 GW of wind power.
Four states with largest installed wind power capacity,
1. Tamil Nadu - 5,073 MW (41,000 MU)
2. Maharashtra - 2,108 MW (11,790 MU)
3. Gujarat - 1,934 MW (8,106 MU)
4. Karnataka - 1,517 MW (9,991 MU)
India has a long coast line (with good wind potential) and the cost of labor/installation is lesser. IREDA is the apex nodal agency for renewable energy and the funding arm of MNRE in India.
Maharashtra has the highest number of installed wind-solar hybrid systems (with a share of 57%), followed by Goa. But in general, the amount of micro wind-turbines and wind-solar hybrid systems are very less. Indian wind scenario is dominated by the larger wind farms with an average capacity of 1 MW and Govt/private players are now exploring off-shore wind farms as well.
The Electricity Act of 2003 gave the first major impetus for the development of wind power in India.
Some Government incentives made available for wind projects in India (as on Dec 2010):
- Government offers a generation based incentive (for every unit of electricity produced using wind-energy) of Rs. 0.50/kWh.
- Concessions on import duties are available for some wind turbine equipment and 100% exemption on excise duty is granted for certain wind turbine equipment.
- Government offers a 10-year income tax holiday for wind power projects.
- 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is allowed in wind energy projects.
- Individual states have announced preferential tariff for wind power.
- Special incentives are available for wind energy companies under renewable-sector SEZ.
- Government has proposed a clean energy cess of Rs. 50 per Tonne on all coal produced/imported into India. This money will be used to encourage R&D, deployment of clean energy technologies including wind.
- It is mandatory for states/large organizations to either generate or buy certain amount of electricity through renewable technologies. National Action Plan on climate change targets 15% renewable energy (on a national level) by 2020 and its policies are designed to give a boost to renewable technologies like wind, etc.
- If states/organizations are not able to meet their renewable energy targets, they could buy Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) from renewable power producers. Power plants (wind, solar, etc.) get 1 RE Certificate for every 1 mWh of electricity generated, which can be traded/sold at a reasonable market price as decided by the regulatory agency.
Suzlon, Enercon India, Vestas India, RRB Energy, ReGen Powertech, Gamesa, Leituer-Shriram, Global Wind Power, Kenersys and WinWinD.
Top three states with largest installable wind potential:
- Gujarat (10,609 MW)
- Karnataka (8,591 MW)
- Maharashtra (5,439 MW)
- China (44,733 MW)
- USA (40,180 MW)
- Germany (27,214 MW)
- Spain (20,676 MW)
- India (13,065 MW)
