India - Wind energy generation is poised for major growth in the coming years

Wind energy generation in India is poised for a major growth in the coming years. Venture capitalists, who hesitated to fund wind energy projects a decade ago, are now going out of their way to finance wind energy initiatives, according to Dr M.P. Ramesh, Executive Director of the Chennai-based Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET). Dr Ramesh said the wind energy field was currently witnessing a record number of installations and wind turbines with higher yield and technology were finding their way into the country. This year, there is a possibility of installation of wind energy projects to the tune of 1,000 MW, taking the total wind energy generation in India to 3,500 MW. He, however, said it was time to concentrate on quality aspects in an objective manner to ensure that the technology being brought into the country was not only environmentally friendly but also cost effective.

Dr Ramesh was addressing a business meet on Wind Energy and Energy Conservation on Friday. The meeting was organised by the Non- Conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NEDCAP). Inaugurating the meeting, the Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, K.R. Suresh Reddy, said India being the fifth largest producer of wind energy in the world was ahead of China and Japan in this field. He emphasised the need for exploiting renewable energy sources in the country, particularly in Andhra Pradesh.

The NEDCAP Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, S.E. Sekhar Babu, said so far 93.47-MW capacity wind energy projects were established by 26 developers in Andhra Pradesh, which has an estimated potential for generation of 745 MW of wind energy. The Union Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources had identified 31 locations in the State for establishing wind energy projects. NEDCAP had established three demonstration wind farm projects in Anantapur, Kurnool and Nellore districts in order to create confidence among the investors. The Director of Osmania University's Centre for Energy Technology, Prof D.N. Reddy, said there was a need to create a resource database to estimate the potential for wind energy generation in the country. T. Dharma Rao of Energy Conservation Mission emphasised the need for taking up research activities for the development of alternative sources of energy.