The Hindu Business Line : Generating power in an eco-friendly way

India is emerging as a major wind energy player, having recorded the fastest growth rate in installed wind energy capacity during the last three years after China.

In 2005, India displaced Denmark as the fourth largest wind energy generating nation in terms of installed capacity at 4,253 MW and clocked an average growth rate of 35.7 per cent during the past three years, the highest after China's 38.8 per cent.

While the gross wind energy potential in India has been estimated at 45,000 MW, the technical potential is limited to about 13,000 MW. Germany, Spain and the US are ahead of India in terms of installed capacity.

According to energy sector experts, wind is one of the largest renewable energy sources in the country, with the fastest growth prospects as well. States with high wind power potential include Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Already over 12 billion units of electricity have been fed to various state grids from wind power projects over the last several years, with almost 80 per cent of the power thus generated being used for captive consumption.

About a dozen domestic companies are manufacturing wind power turbines and components, achieving an annual turnover of Rs 1,500 crore.

Wind electric generators ranging from 55 to 1250 kW rating have been developed and manufactured in the country by using the latest technologies.

Modern wind power technologies are now indigenously available. An annual production capacity of 500 MW has been established. Wind electric generators up to 1250 kW unit capacity are now being manufactured.

Blades, a crucial component of wind turbines, are manufactured in India.

The Wind Resource Assessment Programme (WRAP), carried out across the country to assess the wind potential, is one of the largest programmes of this kind in the world covering around 1,000 wind monitoring and mapping stations in 25 States and Union Territories. This is being implemented by the state nodal agencies (SNAs) through the Wind Energy Survey Project. WRAP has so far identified 208 potential sites in 13 States. Some 30 project sites have been developed in the high potential states under the demonstration programme.

R&D ACTIVITIES

R&D activities are being undertaken through research institutions, laboratories, technical centres in locations across the country.

A project on the "Development of an intelligent power controller for Wind Electric Generators (WEGs)" has been undertaken by the Electronics Research and Development Centre (ERDC), at Thiruvananthapuram to maximise generation and reduce reactive power requirements of WEGs.

The controller has been fabricated and field-tested. A project on "Power quality and integration of wind farms in the grid" has been taken up jointly by ERDC, Thiruvananthapuram, in collaboration with institutions from Denmark has prepared guidelines for the integration of wind turbines with weak grids. The guidelines have also been circulated to the potential states.

Non-conventional energy sources

The country has been making strides to increase the use of renewable energy sources in the transition to a sustainable energy base since the early 1970s.

The Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources is working out a comprehensive renewable energy policy, which envisages that at the current rate of capacity addition from renewable energy sources, around 20 per cent of the capacity to be added during the 10-year period spanning the Tenth and Eleventh Plan through renewables. The Ministry, in fact, hopes to add around 1,00,000 MW capacity from renewable sources by 2050. Currently, 7,200 MW installed capacity of power generation from renewable sources constitute 6 per cent of the entire power generating installed capacity in the country.

The Ministry's activities cover all major renewable energy sources such as biogas, biomass, solar energy, wind energy, small hydropower and the other emerging technologies.

In each of these areas, the Ministry has programmes of resource assessment, R&D, technology development and demonstration.

Programmes under way

The Ministry is involved in the implementation of these programmes for development, demonstration and utilisation of various renewable energy-based technologies such as solar thermal; solar photovoltaics; wind power generation and water pumping; biomass combustion/co-generation; small, mini and micro hydro power; solar power; utilisation of biomass - gasifiers, biogas, improved chulha (cook-stove); geothermal for heat applications and power generation/energy recovery from urban, municipal and industrial wastes; and tidal power generation.

The Ministry also deals with other emerging areas and new technologies such as chemical sources of energy, fuel cells, alternative fuel for surface transportation and hydrogen energy etc.

With a strong industrial base and successful commercialisation of technologies in wind, solar photovoltaics, solar thermal, small hydel, biogas and improved biomass stoves, India is now in a position to offer moderntechnology to other developing countries and is poised to play a leading role in the global movement towards sustainable energy development.

Promotion of solar energy

To provide a further impetus, the Ministry has launched an accelerated scheme to promote use of solar water heating systems, especially in urban areas through concessional loans from lending institutions.

The loans would now be available at 2 per cent interest rate for households, 3 per cent for institutions and 5 per cent for commercial organisations (down from 5 per cent for households and 7 per cent for others).

One such heating system is capable of conserving 400 KW of electricity or a barrel of oil per annum.

In case of power generation from municipal solid waste, the Government is focusing first on 93 large Municipal Corporations where bulk of waste is generated and 1000 MW power capacity can be set up.

A scheme would soon be launched for utilising potential of bagasse co-generation from which at least 5000 MW surplus capacity can be created at a very little cost compared to conventional power.

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