Wind power in India

The development of wind power in India began in the 1990s, and has significantly increased in the last few years. Although a relative newcomer to the wind industry compared with Denmark or the US, a combination of domestic policy support for wind power and the rise of Suzlon (a leading global wind turbine manufacturer) have led India to become the country with the fourth largest installed wind power capacity in the world, and the wind energy leader in the developing world.

As of July 2008 the installed capacity of wind power in India was 8,696 MW, mainly spread across Tamil Nadu (3873 MW), Maharashtra (1756 MW), Karnataka (1011 MW), Rajasthan (539 MW), Gujarat (1253 MW), Andhra Pradesh (123 MW), Madhya Pradesh (126 MW), Kerala (12.5 MW), West Bengal (2 MW), other states (1.6 MW) It is estimated that 6,000 MW of additional wind power capacity will be installed in India by 2012. Despite the fact wind power accounts for 6% of India's total installed power capacity, it generates only 1.6% of the country's power.

Overview
The worldwide installed capacity of wind power reached 93,849 MW by the end of 2007. Germany (22,247 MW), USA (16,818 MW), and Spain (15,145 MW) are ahead of India in fourth position. The short gestation periods for installing wind turbines, and the increasing reliability and performance of wind energy machines has made wind power a favored choice for capacity addition in India.

Suzlon, an Indian-owned company, emerged on the global scene in the past decade, and by 2006 had captured almost 8 percent of market share in global wind turbine sales. Suzlon is currently the leading manufacturer of wind turbines for the Indian market, holding some 52.4 percent of market share in India. Suzlon’s success has made India the developing country leader in advanced wind turbine technology.

Tamil Nadu (3873 MW)
Tamil Nadu is the state with most wind generating capacity: 3216 MW at the end of 2006. Not far from Aralvaimozhi, the Muppandal wind farm which the largest in Asia is located near the once impoverished village of Muppandal, supplying the villagers with electricity for work. The village had been selected as the showcase for India's $2 billion clean energy program which provides foreign companies with tax breaks for establishing fields of wind turbines in the area.

Maharashtra (1756 MW)
Maharashtra is second only to Tamil Nadu in terms of generating capacity. Suzlon has been heavily involved. Suzlon operates what was once Asia's largest wind farm, the Vankusawade Wind Park (201 MW), near the Koyna reservoir in Satara district of Maharashtra.

Gujarat (1253 MW)
Samana in Rajkot district is set to host energy companies like China Light Power (CLP) and Tata Power have pledged to invest up to Rs.8.15 billion ($189.5 million) in different projects in the area. CLP, through its India subsidiary CLP India, is investing close to Rs.5 billion for installing 126 wind turbines in Samana that will generate 100.8 MW power. Tata Power has installed wind turbines in the same area for generating 50 MW power at a cost of Rs.3.15 billion. Both projects are expected to become operational by early next year, according to government sources. The Gujarat government, which is banking heavily on wind power, has identified Samana as an ideal location for installation of 450 turbines that can generate a total of 360 MW. To encourage investment in wind energy development in the state, the government has introduced a raft of incentives including a higher wind energy tariff. Samana has a high tension transmission grid and electricity generated by wind turbines can be fed into it. For this purpose, a substation at Sadodar has been installed. Both projects are being executed by Enercon Ltd, a joint venture between Enercon of Germany and Mumbai-based Mehra group.

ONGC Ltd has commissioned its first wind power project. The 51 MW project is located at Motisindholi in Kutch district of Gujarat. ONGC had placed the EPC order on Suzlon Energy in January 2008, for setting up the wind farm comprising 34 turbines of 1.5-mw each. Work on the project had begun in February 2008, and it is learnt that the first three turbines had begun production within 43 days of starting construction work. Power from this Rs 308 crore captive wind farm will be wheeled to the Gujarat state grid for onward use by ONGC at its Ankleshwar, Ahmedabad, Mehsana and Vadodara centres. ONGC has targeted to develop a captive wind power capacity of around 200 MW in the next two years.

Karnataka (1011 MW)
List of small wind farms

There are a lot of small wind farms in Karnataka. Karnataka is one of the states in India which has the most number of wind mill farms.

Bellary wind mills:
Wind-turbine generators with a capacity of 2.5 MW have been installed at Mallayyana Betta near Sogi in Hadagali taluk. With this, power generation using wind, a non-conventional energy source, is set to begin in the district.

The Union Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources and Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL) have financed a part of the cost of this demonstration project. The remaining funds have been raised through financial institutions. Sujlon, an Ahmedabad-based company, has set up the units on a turnkey basis.

Rajasthan (539 MW)
Jaisalmer has two wind power farms. Sikar District has one near hathsar.

Madhya Pradesh (126 MW)
Present Rs.3.97p/kwh coming down to Rs 3.30 from the 5th year to 20th year

In consideration of unique concept, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh has sanctioned another 15 MW project to MPWL at Nagda Hills near Dewas. All the 25 WEGs have been commissioned on 31.03.2008 and under successful operation. (http://www.windpowerindia.com/generation.htm).

Kerala (12.5 MW)
The first wind farm of the state was set up at Kanjikode in Palakkad district. It has a generating capacity of 2.03 MW. A new wind farm project was launched with private participation at Ramakkalmedu in Idukki district. The project, which was inaugurated by chief minister V. S. Achuthanandan in April 2008, aims at generating 10.5 MW of electricity.

Others (1.6 MW)
1.6 MW is installed in other states.

Future
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has fixed a target of 10,500 MW between 2007-12, but an additional generation capacity of only about 6,000 MW might be available for commercial use by 2012.