Rural and remote Kerala, which faces acute shortage of power supply, could explore the option of clean energy with Aerial Wind Power Developers Pvt Ltd obtaining clearance from the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to go ahead with its Wind-Solar Hybrid system for household electricity.

The supply generated would be made available to residential and farm houses, hospitals, hotels, resorts, house boats, petrol pumps and showrooms.

Mr M.K. Shabu Meppully, Vice Chairman of the Chalakkudy-based company said that wind power has been found to be more economical than solar power and the wind-solar hybrid system is very easy to install on roof tops and at ground level. Even a low wind speed of 2 metres per second which is commonly available in hilly, desert, coastal and open land is enough to generate power. The investment in solar system is higher than the wind energy.

The generated power is stored in a battery bank and DC power converted into AC power and can be connected to the grid line. The wind-solar hybrid system is ideal for installation at residential areas due to low noise and low vibration. Presently, 500 to 10,000 Watt wind-solar hybrid systems are available, with the lowest generation system costing Rs 2,50,000 that allows a subsidy component of Rs 1,00,000 per 1000 Watt, he said. However there is a need to install the solar power version along with wind generator system in households in order to avail the subsidy component announced by the Government, he said.

Encouraging response

The company which was established last year had so far installed around 15 numbers of wind-solar hybrid systems in various parts of the State. This is expected to touch 100 in the next fiscal. There has been encouraging response from the market as about 60 per cent of the people responded positively to the survey conducted by the company in the State. The company has approached various universities and architect associations to promote the system as part of their green energy initiatives. The universities have set apart separate funds to promote green energy and this can be utilised for installing wind solar hybrid systems, he said.

At a time when the Centre is against sanctioning new hydro power projects in the State, the electricity produced with the help of wind-hybrid system is considered to be an ideal solution to meet the power requirements . Power generation from wind also helps in the protection of environment and ensures the conservation of other energy resources, he added.

Palakkad project

The company, having offices in Thiruvananthapuram, Coimbatore and Dubai, is in the process of setting up a 5.4 MW wind power project for the Kerala Health Care Centre, Kanjikode, Palakkad. The company is hopeful of getting more enquiries from customers for developing wind power project on the successful completion of the Palakkad project, he added. It is also carrying out services such as setting up solar photo voltaic power plants with capacities up to 25 MW; installation of bio methane gas and power generation plants from bio degradable waste such as animal waste, kitchen waste, poultry waste etc; installation of bio-gasifier gas and power generation plants — ideal for steel rolling mills, aluminium plants etc; setting up solar steam cooking systems and providing solar water pumping systems.

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