The Hindu Business Line : ‘Provide incentives for foreign investments in wind energy’

Chennai, Nov. 25 India is a difficult environment for foreign investments in wind energy, says Mr Andrew Garrad, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Farrad Hassan and Partners, UK.

Addressing the inaugural of the Wind India 2008, a two-day conference and exhibition on wind energy, Mr Garrad said the incentive schemes to support investments in this area need to be modified to allow foreign investments. Feed-in tariff was not the only option, a consistent policy that instils confidence is key to attracting investments.

India also needs to present a better wind estimate to improve confidence of foreign investors, he said.

The industry needs to design wind turbines suited for Indian conditions, he said, observing that the turbines in use in India were primarily designed for northern Europe. Turbines need to be optimised for large markets such as the US, China, Latin American and India.

As the share of wind energy in the generation basket increases, wind energy generation facilities need to behave like a conventional power station with the forecast of generation available a day ahead. Technology was available — “wind is variable but not intermittent. It is predictable and can be scheduled,” he said, emphasising that wind energy need not necessarily be considered infirm power, Mr Garrad said at the conference organised by the World Institute of Sustainable Energy, Pune.

Mr Ramesh Kymal, Managing Director, Vestas India, and Chairman of the Organising Committee conference, said that at an installed capacity of 9,500 MW wind was twice as large a contributor of energy in India than nuclear power. The potential is estimated at about 100,000 MW with about 2,000 MW being added annually. The target the industry has set for itself is to add 5,000 MW a year from 2012. This represents investments of about Rs 30,000 crore and 200,000 new jobs yearly.

Mr Pramod Deo, Chairman, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, said features such as generation-based incentives, renewable energy purchase obligation, interstate open access and differential tariff were key to encouraging renewable energy.

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