Wind power projects lure foreign investments

India's wind energy sector "" estimated to have a potential of over 45,000 Mw "" has seen significant investments from foreign companies who are attracted by the development potential, availability of wind farm equipment at competitive prices and conducive government policies.

Foreign players that have forayed into India's wind energy sector include Roaring 40s (an equal joint venture between China Light & Power (CLP) and Hydro Tasmania), which is setting up a 50-Mw wind farm in Maharashtra. Hong Kong-based CLP is setting up 100 Mw and 82 Mw wind farms in Gujarat and Karnataka respectively.

Epuron Energy, a subsidiary of Coenergy of Germany, is planning to set up 550-Mw wind farms in the next 3-4 years. Other multinational renewable energy companies such as Westwind of Australia and Axiona of Spain are also planning to invest in wind farms.

BP Energy India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of the multinational BP, is planning a 40-Mw wind farm.

"The wind energy sector in India is booming and growing at a rate of about 50 per cent on a year-on-year basis. With price of oil touching $100 per barrel, the world has to look at other cheaper and safe options," said Venkat Sundaram, general secretary, Indian Wind Power Association.

Less than a fifth of the wind energy potential of the country (7,660 Mw) is realised so far. It takes an investment of Rs 3-6 crore to set up 1 Mw of wind power capacity compared to about Rs 4 crore for a thermal plant.

"It is still a new concept in India, which will gradually pick up," said Rajiv Mishra, managing director of CLP India, who expects renewable energy to have a 10-15 per cent share in the grid-connected electricity in 10-15 years. CLP group wants to have an installed wind power capacity of about 1,000 Mw in the country.

Currently, about 7 per cent of the country's installed generation capacity is accounted for by wind power, which has seen rapid growth in the 10th Five-Year Plan with over 5,000 Mw capacity being added against the few hundred megawatts in the previous Plan periods.

Today, with an installed capacity of 7,660 Mw of wind energy, the country stands fourth in the world after Germany, Spain, and the USA. By 2012, this capacity would further increase to 10,500 Mw.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is keen to ensure that energy from renewables equals that from conventional sources over a period of time. "There is a need to have a balanced grid," said a senior official of the ministry.

Foreign companies are keen to set up wind farms in the country to earn green points (and carbon credits), though they do have some concerns like the strength of the electricity grid.

"The grid should be more flexible in taking power from wind farms, because wind power is infirm power unlike thermal power that can be predicted," said an industry expert.

Critics of wind power say that while money has been invested in setting up wind farms, very little power is actually being generated. The government is likely to soon link incentives to actual power generated rather than money invested.