POTENTIAL The wind power potential of the country has been reassessed by the National Institute for Wind Energy (NIWE), it has been estimated to be 302 GW at 100 meter hub-height. India has long coastline where there is a good possibility for developing offshore wind power projects. The Off-shore locations from Tamil Nadu and Gujarat coast provides among the best locations from wind power generation. In order to harness this potential, the government of India have formulated offshore wind power policy and expression of interest for initial 1GW off-shore wind power have already been issued. The cabinet has cleared the National Offshore Wind Energy Policy and the same has been notified on 6th October 2015. First LiDAR installed and commissioned off Gujarat coast for gathering wind resource data.
MOUs for wind forecasting entered with Gujarat and Rajasthan based on the forecasting experience of Tamil Nadu with NIWE. Meso scale map is prepared for wind resource at 120 meter height, as most of turbine hub heights being installed are more than 100 meters. Total assessed wind resource of India would go up from 302 GW at 100 m to about 600 GW at 120 m); MESO scale map is also prepared for Offshore wind.
FALLING TARIFF
HYBRID MODEL The Government of India has notified Solar-Wind hybrid policy in order to optimize land use and harnessing solar and wind energy potential optimally. The Policy seeks to promote new hybrid projects as well as hybridisation of existing wind/solar projects. The existing wind/solar projects can be hybridised with higher transmission capacity than the sanctioned one, subject to availability of margin in the existing transmission capacity.
PAN-INDIA RENEWABLE POWER MARKET
GREEN ENERGY CORRIDOR The Green Energy Corridor projects seek creation of grid infrastructure for renewable power evacuation and to reshape grid for future requirements. The intra state transmission scheme (InSTS) is being implemented by eight renewable rich States at an investment of Rs. 10,141 crore. The aim is to set up about 9400 ckm transmission lines and Substations of total capacity of approx. 19000 MVA is targeted to complete by March 2020.
GOING AHEAD India is fast becoming the most favoured destination for harnessing renewable energy. During the last four years, more than US$ 42 billion worth of investment was made in renewable energy in India. Indian companies have begun to tap foreign stock exchanges for sourcing funds. Foreign participation is encouraged in the renewable energy space. The foreign investors can enter into joint venture with an Indian partner for financial and/or technical collaboration and for setting up of renewable energy-based power generation projects. 100% foreign investment as equity qualifies for automatic approval. Government of India is also encouraging foreign Investors to set up renewable energy-based power generation projects on build-own-operate basis. Going forward, the wind energy segment offers lucrative business for the private sector players. Most of the renewable energy projects in India are being implemented by the private sector developers selected through a transparent bidding process. In order to be competitive, the government of India is encouraging private sector developers to deploy most advanced technologies and also go in for hybrid model so as to have the most optimal renewable energy mix.