Message-ID: <mailto:199506281918.MAA13536@cdp.igc.apc.org> Date: Wed, 28 Jun 1995 12:18:44 -0700 From: Tom Gray <mailto:tgray@IGC.APC.ORG> Subject: --Tamil Nadu Paces India Wind To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L
/* Written 12:14 PM Jun 28, 1995 by tgray in igc:energy.news */ TAMIL NADU PACES INDIA WIND BOOM WITH 131 MW
The south Indian state of Tamil Nadu is leading a wind energy rush on the subcontinent with installed capacity to date of 131 MW, according to a renewable energy business report from the American Consulate in Madras, India.
Assessments by India's Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES) place Tamil Nadu's ultimate wind potential at 2,000 MW, or 25 percent more wind capacity than is currently installed in California, the world leader in wind generation. The report notes, however, that a number of potentially promising wind sites in the state have not yet been surveyed, making it possible that the projection could rise.
At present, it said, just over 70 percent of India's total wind capacity of 180 MW is sited in Tamil Nadu, with 120 wind turbines totalling 19.35 MW being owned by the state electricity board and 458 machines totalling 111.73 MW in private hands.
"If this commercial enthusiasm continues," the report said, "the rate of growth in Tamil Nadu will continue well above 60 MW per year for the next few years, according to K. A. Sundaram, head of the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA), which promotes renewable energy development in the state."
Tamil Nadu's geography is favorable for wind development, the report said. Three major mountain passes along the state's western border concentrate the strong, steady winds of the monsoon season, which runs from June to September. Cape Cormorin, at the southern tip of India, is also a windy area which has fostered a number of wind power plants. Muppandal, a project in the Cormorin area, achieved a capacity factor of 30 percent last year, equal to the productivity of some of the better wind facilities in California.
In addition to the good wind resource, the report said, several other factors have propelled Tamil Nadu's wind surge:
o "Availability of land. Twenty-five acres is required for every MW of wind power generated: the windy districts of Tamil Nadu still have vast areas of dry land available at relatively low prices, although prices are being pushed up by the windmill boom.
o "[Government] incentives. These include concessional (two percent) wheeling (transmission), 10 percent project cost subsidy, and tax exemptions for generator purchase and wind power consumption.
o "Activist state agencies, including TEDA and the Non- conventional Energy Division of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB), which provide technical data and professional consultation to both government and private organizations."
The land rush in Tamil Nadu, the report said, has created a sharp increase in demand and rapidly escalating real estate prices. Some companies, it said, may elect to try combining wind and solar generation to achieve higher generation from given amounts of land. (Since wind turbines actually occupy only two percent to five percent of the land on which they are sited, it is possible to intersperse them with solar cell arrays or with solar thermal equipment such as parabolic dishes.)
Danish wind turbine manufacturers, in particular Micon and Vestas, have accounted for the vast majority of turbine sales in Tamil Nadu to date, the report said, but U.S. firms Kenetech Windpower and Cannon Power Corp. are now beginning to make inroads in the regional market.
Other south Indian states--Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala--also have substantial wind potential and are beginning to take an interest in encouraging wind development. In mid-January, Andhra Pradesh announced that it has signed memorandums of understanding with 48 private companies for wind projects totalling 347 MW, and Kerala has signed similar agreements for two 25-MW windfarms, the report said.
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