India’s wind energy sector got a breath of fresh air from the December 7 circular — National Repowering & Life Extension Policy for Wind Power Projects — from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

A long standing demand of the sector, which once was the blue eyed boy in India’s energy transition story, was the issue of repowering of the wind power projects.

What is repowering? In simple words it is replacing outdated wind turbines with modern and updated turbine technology.

The Ministry had issued Policy for Repowering of the Wind Power Projects in August 2016. But, that policy had scope for improvement. Thanks to the efforts of wind energy players, the 2016 policy has now been revised to enable repowering/replacement of older generation wind turbines for life extension beyond design life subject to certain conditions.

The December 7, 2023, circular said that “in supersession to the Policy for Repowering of the Wind Power Projects dated August 5, 2016, the Ministry hereby issues National Repowering & Life Extension Policy for Wind Power Projects – 2023.”

According to the official information, India started harnessing wind power in the late eighties backed by indigenous manufacturing which has shown consistent progress since its inception. The share of wind power in the total installed capacity mix in the country has also increased from 21.1 GW as on March 2014 to 44.29 GW as on October 2023.

Over the years the wind turbine generator technology has evolved and individual rated capacities of wind turbines have increased from sub MW scale to multi MW scale.

Most of the wind turbines installed in India up to the year 2000 are of sub MW capacity and are at sites having high wind energy potential.

Some of the old wind turbines have already completed their design life while some are approaching the end of their design life.

These wind turbines are not only inefficient in comparison to the latest technology but also have lower hub heights (in the range of 30-60m) in comparison to hub heights of 120-140 m range being installed now.

In order to optimally utilise the wind energy resource available at the respective sites a policy was needed to enable these old wind energy turbines to be repowered or refurbished with technological advancements to increase its operational life and efficiency, while considering due safety aspects, the statement said.

Stakeholders’ view

The review of the 2016 policy has taken into account representations from various stakeholders, subsequent deliberations and stakeholders’ consultation and a revised policy has been prepared, the statement said. It added that “This policy enables repowering/replacement of older generation turbines with newer generation more efficient turbines even before the design life is over, if the developers/owners choose to do so. The revised policy considers refurbishment of wind turbines for life extension beyond design life subject to safety and performance assessment as per relevant standards. Refurbishment may be done by suitable modifications in the turbine components such as gearbox, blades, generator, controller etc.”

Opinions are again divided on the latest government move. Some industry players feel that this policy review is a case of better late than never, others feel it is too little, too late.

Ajay Devaraj, Secretary General at the Indian Wind Power Association, welcomed the policy and stated that it was a marked improvement over the 2016 Policy and the subsequent draft policy of 2022.

He said that unlike in the past when Repowering was taken to mean the enhancement of installed capacity, the new policy rightly focuses on enhancement of annual energy generation by at least 1.5 times compared to actual generation of the old wind power project. Another positive aspect is that it allows the windmill owner the flexibility of choosing between Repowering and refurbishment.

Turbine assessment

On the issue of Life Extension, he pointed out that the Policy states that the assessment of turbines shall be carried out as per the UL 4143: Wind Turbine Generator Lifetime Extension standard or any such standards issued by the BIS.

“This part of the Policy can be implemented only after the Bureau of Indian Standards issues such standards; till such time this is done, wind turbines that have completed their design life as certified under the Type Test Certificate in accordance with the applicable relevant standards should be allowed to continue in operation, with all the attendant benefits and privileges hitherto enjoyed by them,” he urged.

On whether it is late in the day, AS Karanth, wind energy consultant, said, “At least some day old machines need to be removed, additional capacity needs to be added using available potential with better wind speeds, get the optimum utilisation of Passing Good generation output winds — sites, and take advantage of existing captive wind farms to enhance generation capacity.”

“This captive customer base investment capacity can be tapped, if suitable policies are brought in,” he said.

What kind of cost escalations are likely? According to Karanth, “it is very difficult to define at this stage. It depends on the cooperative effort to evince interest among the current Turbine investors to group and re-do microsite and make it available for new investments...”

As is the case with any policy, its implementation holds the key. A general perception is that it will take a while before investors put their money here again. Without coordinated effort and incentivisation there is a danger of this policy remaining on paper.