Industry, govt chart out plans to tap wind energy

Different buyback rates and lack of clear policies and speedy clearance mechanism in states are the major barriers in tapping the wind energy potential in the country, said Jami Hossain, advisor (technical) to the Indian Wind Energy Association (INWEA).

Hossain was in Ahmedabad to participate in a day-long business meet for exploring the possibilities of tapping wind energy. Hossain said while the potential for wind energy is estimated at 65,000 MW, the total electricity produced through wind energy today is just about 2,200 MW.

Tamil Nadu accounts for half of this production with 1,100 MW of electricity, followed by Maharashtra with about 400 MW. Gujarat produces 193 MW through wind energy and Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh produce about 100 MW each.

The remaining energy is produced in a couple of other states like Karnataka and Kerala.

"The government has assumed that one per cent of the land can be used for setting up wind energy stations. I believe that this rationale is not right. For instance, in Tamil Nadu, more than one per cent of the land is being used for wind stations," Hossain said.

He said the potential for tapping wind energy depends on several factors like wind resources and the type of technology used. He said the industry, represented by INWEA, financial institutions and the central government, recently held a series of meetings, where a roadmap for the next five years has been chalked out.

He said INWEA, in association with the government, has chalked out a generation capacity of 5,000 MW through wind energy sources by 2007.