Indian Wind Energy & Economy

In the early 1980s, the Indian government established the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) to encourage diversification of the country's energy supply, and satisfy the increasing energy demand of a rapidly growing economy. In 2006, this ministry was renamed the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

Renewable energy is growing rapidly in India. With an installed capacity of 13.2 CW, renewable energy sources (excluding large hydro) currently account for 9% of India's overall power generation capacity. By 2012, the Indian government is planning to add an extra 14 CW of renewable sources.

In its 10th Five Year Plan, the Indian government had set itself a target of adding 3.5 GW of renewable energy sources to the generation mix. In reality, however, nearly double that figure was achieved. In this period, more than 5.4 GW of wind energy was added to the generation mix, as well as 1.3 GW from other RE ssurces The tdi^ot si.t tor the pound tism 2008-2012 was increased to 14 GW, 10.5 GW of which to be new wind generation capacity

The Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) estimates that there is a potential of around 90,000 MW for the country, including 48,561 MW of wind power, 14,294 MW of small hydro power and 26,367 MW of biomass In addition, the potential for solar energy is estimated for most parts of the country at around 20 MW per square kilometer of open, shadow free area covered with 657 GW of installed capacity.

The total potential for wind power in India was first estimat¬ed by the Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET) at around 45 GW, and was recently increased to 48.5 GW. This figure was also adopted by the government as the official estimate.

The C-WET study was based on a comprehensive wind mapping exercise initiated by MNRE, which established a country-wide network of 105O wind monitoring and wind mapping stations in 25 Indian States. This effort made it possible to assess the national wind potential and identify suitable areas for harnessing wind power for commercial use, and 216 suitable sites have been identified.

However,the wind measurements were carried out at lower hub heights and did not take into account technological innovation and improvements and repowering of old turbines to replace them with bigger ones At heights of 55-65 meters, to replace them with bigger ones. At heights of 55-65 meters, the Indian WindTur bine Manufacturers Assodation (IWTMA) estimates that the potential for wind development in India is around 65-70 GW. The World Institute for Sustainable Energy, India (WISE) considers that with larger turbines, greater land availability and expanded resource exploration, the potential could be as big as 100 GW.