R

PERGAMON
Renewable Energy 16 (1999) 961-964

WIND ENERGY - INDIA OVERVIEW

S. KUMAR, VESTAS RRB INDIA LTD NEW DELHI
Energy is the key infrastructural requirement for development and sustenance of a modern s economy. Per capita consumption of electricity is the index of a country development. In developed countties the per capita consumption of electric energy is lo-50 times more than in the case of developing countries including India. The year 1997 witnessed the completion of 50 years of freedom in India. From an instahed generating capacity of about 1,300 MW in 1947 to the current installed capacity &tease amounts to more than 88,500 MW over a period of 50 ofabout90,000Mw,the years, which amounts approx. to an average increase of 1,775 MW per year. Correspondingly the per capita availabilii of electricity has increased from barely 15 units in 1947 to 350 units in 1997, which by no means is a small achievement. However, the demand for electricity has grown even faster than the installed capacity in India resulting in a huge gap between demand and supply. Today, India is facing severe shortage of electricity and it is projected that by 2012, India will have to add approx. another 150,000 MW to its current installed capacity, which is approx. an average increase of 10,000 MW annually. The country is thus likely to fdl way behind the required capacity additions. It is against this background and the fact that generation of electricity from conventional sources cannot be stepped up to such an extent as to meet this huge demand, that the generation of power from wind and other renewable sources assumes significance. In recent years, use of renewable energy technologies has received a further stimulus, owing to depletion of fossil tieIs and also owing to environmental hazards and the threat of global warming posed by conventional sources of energy. In Indirs renewable energy technologies came to be recognized in the early 1970 The s. country has today among the world largest programmes on renewable energy, and India s is perhaps the only country in the world which has a full fledged Ministry established for Non-convemional Energy Sources. The Ministry - apart from providing policy guidelines and initiatives towards enhancement of energy generation fromrenewable sources - also acts as a catalyst in promoting various renewable energy technologies viz., biogas, biomass, solar energy, wind energy, small hydro power and other emerging technologies. The total installed capacity as on 31st March, 1998 from various renewable sources of energy is around 1200 Ib4Wwhich is approx. 1.3% of the total installed capacity of energy 0960-t~t/~/S--see front matter Q 1998 Published by Eisevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: SO960-I48 1(98)00342-5

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in India. During the 8th Five Year Plan (1992-97) the capacity addition achieved in the country from renewable sources was about 1100 MW i.e., about 7% of the total generation capacity addition achieved in the country during that period. Private Sector has evinced keen interest in the manufacture of equipment and development of projects in the renewable energy sector. The Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources is understood to be preparing a comprehensive perspective plan under which 10% of the total power generated by the year 2007 would be sourced from renewable elements. The 9th Five Year Plan i.e. 1997-2002 envisages a grid capacity addition of around 3000 MW from New and Renewable Sources of Energy. Renewable electricity generation technologies offer possibilities of decentraliied power generation. This would ensure saving of costly establishment and maintenance of transmission and distribution networks. In 1985, the Department of Non-conventional Energy Sources (now known as Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources- MNES) started anextensive wind data collection programme comprising wind monitoring, wind mapping and complex terrain projects. This programme covers 25 States/Union Territories. The wind resource potential in the country as estimated by MNES is around 20,000 MW and it is envisaged that this potential when harnessed will become a major contributor to the national grid net work. A phased programme to develop Wind Power has resulted in an installed capacity of about 930 MW till date in the country and approximately 2.7 billion units of electricity have so far been fed to the State Electricity Board Grids, which constitutes about 80% of the total power generated in the country from the New and Renewable Sources of Energy, i.e. 1200 MW till date. Out of an installed capacity of 930 MW from Wind Power, a capacity of about 50 MW was installed by the Government of India as Demonstration Projects since 1985 and the rest 880 MW was installed by the Private Sector. As a prelude to the development of the Wind Power Programme, the Government of India has arranged and conducted various Wind Monitoring and Mapping Programmes throughout the country. This wind resources survey programme was organised by the Government in association with various State Energy Development Agencies and State Electricity Boards, to identify locations where wind farms for the generation of electrical power from Wind Energy could be set up. The programme now carried out in 25 States/Union Territories of the country involves the collection of wind data at about 530 wind mapping stations which have been installed for measuring wind velocity at 20 to 30 About 213 wind monitoring stations for M Height with cup counter anemometers. recording hourly wind velocity and direction by sophisticated microprocessor controller data loggers have been set up. Four Handbooks covering nearly 164 stations have been published till date. A recent study has m-assessed the gross potential at about 50,000 MW

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from Wind Energy. 134 Sites in 11 states have already been ident%ed, which are considered suitable for Wind Power Projects and the survey work is in progress in 24 StatedUTs. The states of Rajasthan and West Bengal have recently joined the group of States which have favourable wind potential. It has been observed from the study that there is a large scale flow of wind over India during the monsoon circulations from the strong South-West summer monsoon, which starts in May-June and the relatively weaker North-East winter monsoon, which starts in October - February. During the period March - August, winds are uniformly strong over the whole Indian peninsula, except the eastern peninsular coast. The months of May, June, July account for nearly half of the annual energy availability from wind. Wind speeds during November to March are relatively weaker, though higher wind speeds are noticed during this period on the Tamil Nadu coastline. In addition to resource assessment, the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources is also supporting the State Agencies to prepare comprehensive plans (master plans) for development of known windy regions. The plan, apart from monitoring the availability of wind, also details many other aspects that are required in order to generate power from wind energy. Grid availability, quality of grid and accessibility of the site are aspects that have to be reckoned with in order to determine the establishment of Wind Power Plants at known windy sites. To spread the use of various renewable energy technologies, including wind energy various fiscal and other support measures have been implemented and with a view to create a level playing field for renewable energy v&a-v&conventional power generation, the Government has introduced a package of incentives to renewables including Wind Power Generation. Power Generation in India was a State/Central Government subject till recently and it is only now that in tune with the Policy of liberalisation in the country, Power Generation has been thrown open to the Private Sector also. As a consequence of large scale participation of Private Companies in the development of Wind Power Industry, a total of about 930 MW Wind Power Plants generating about 2.7 Billion Kwhlyear have been installed in India till today. The growth of wind energy installations has been fairly rapid during the 8th Five Year Plan period. A capacity of 230 MW was installed in 1994-95, 382 MW in 1995-96 and 170 MW in 1996-97. This represents an investment of about Rupees 3,000 Crores in the Wind Power Sector. A greater part of this growth has taken place in the last three-four years, with the annual capacity addition being around 150-200 MW per year. Between 1993-96, this Sector alone accounted for some six per cent of the addition to India total generation capacity. s However, the biggest success of the programme has been that most of the new capacity has come up in the Private Sector thereby highlighting the success of commercialisation of power generation.

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Escalating costs of conventional power generation is the principal factor for the growth of wind power plants. Gther incentives available for setting up of Wind Power Plants in India are as follows : (i) lOO?hdepreciation on investment on the capital equipment in the first year of installation itself; (ii) Five year tax holiday on Income from sale of power generated by wind energy. (iii) Industry status, entitling to capital subsidy in certain states; (iv) Banking and Wheeling facility ; (v) Buy back of power generation by State Electricity Board at a remunerative price and (vi) Third party sale of power generation in certain states. Several other promotional incentives have been extended to accelerate the utilisation of facilities for indigenous manuf&re of Wind Electric Generators, which include ExemptionXoncessional rate of Customs duty on major components required for the manufacture of Wind Electric Generators and exemption of Excise Duty and Sales Tax on the sale of Wind Electric Generators. About 25 Companies having tie-ups with American, Austrian, Belgium, Danish, Dutch, German and Swedish Companies are involved in the setting up of Wind Power Plants in India. Gut of this, about 15 Companies have already established local facilities for the manufacture of Wind Electric Generators in India. Based on the development of Wind Energy in India and future trends, it is likely that the local market would opt for higher size Wind Electric Generators of 500 KW and above with tower heights of about 40-50 meters. It is envisaged to generate about 2000 MW of power through wind by the end of March 2002. With this, India would become one of largest producers of Wind Power in the world. This would mean that we have to ensure growth of an industrial base which could deliver 400 MW per year in the next 5 years. This would further necessitate development of Quality Assurance requirements for the wind power Industry in India. Having this in view, the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources is establishing a Wind Energy Centre and Wind Turbine Test Station to undertake Resource Assessment & Siting studies; R8rD ; Standardisation; Testing 8c Certification etc. As per the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources, Govt. of India, all manufacturers of Wind Electric Generators have to be accrediied with the Quality System Certification (IS0 9000 series) from the competent authority. The future of the Wind Energy Sector in India looks very bright, provided that the incentives offered to it presently are maintained over the years and concessional credit is available on easy repayment terms to suit the long term nature of wind energy projects. The manufacturers on their part should strive to reduce the cost of production further. Apart from environmental advantages (non-pollution) one of the main reasons for the success of Wind Power in India is the fact that Indii has a growing demand for energy and the Private Sector finds that Wii Power Plants can be established with short gestation periods. The firture angurs well for power generation from Wind Energy.