INDIA

The Indian wind power programme was initiated in 1983-84 and a Wind Energy Data Handbook published in 1983 by the Department of Non-conventional Energy Sources (now the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources, MNES) served as a data source for early government initiatives. In 1985 an extensive Wind Resource Assessment was launched, which also signalled the beginning of concentrated development and harnessing of renewable sources of energy and, more specifically, of wind energy. The Assessment has now become the world’s largest such programme and to date five volumes of the Handbook on Wind Energy Resource Survey, containing a huge volume of accumulated wind data, have been published.

Initial estimates of the Indian wind resource had put it at 20 000 MW (at the micro level) but recent studies have revised this figure to 45 000 MW (at 50 m hub height). Potential locations with abundant wind have been identified in the flat coastal terrain of southern Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Orissa and Mamarashtra. Other favourable sites have also been identified in some inland areas of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. With the assumption of a 20% grid penetration, it has been estimated that 9 000 MW of potential is already available for exploitation in such states.

In terms of currently installed wind turbine capacity, India now ranks 5th in the world behind Germany, USA, Denmark and Spain. At end-1999 the figure stood at 1 081 MW, of which 55 MW represented demonstration projects and 1 026 MW commercial projects. Tamil Nadu possessed 72% of the commercial plants. By mid-2000, total installed capacity had already grown to 1 175 (57 MW demonstration projects and 1 118 MW commercial projects).

The demonstration projects, which began in 1985, are being implemented through the State Governments, State Nodal Agencies or State Electricity Boards. They, together with extremely favourable financial incentives, have created the conditions that have allowed the wind energy market to expand from just 32 MW of installed capacity in early-1990. The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has played a significant role in the promotion of wind energy, attracting bilateral and multilateral financial assistance from world institutions and the private sector. The newly-established Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET) based in Tamil Nadu will act as a technical focal point for wind power development in India.

COUNTRY NOTES (WIND ENERGY)

Argentina || Canada || China || Denmark || Germany || Greece || India || Ireland || Italy || Japan || Netherlands || Spain || Sweden || United Kingdom || United States Of America