An exercise will be launched soon to reassess the country?s wind power potential, encouraged by the recent advancement in generation technology.
This will be undertaken by the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) with the help of Chennai-based Centre for Wind Energy Technology (CWET). ?We will reassess wind power potential along with CWET,? a ministry official told FE.
As of now, India?s wind power generation potential is estimated at 49,000 MW, of which, about 15,000 MW has been harnessed.
The MNRE has been encouraged to go for the reassessment by positive developments like the capacity addition in Tamil Nadu and a bullish report released by the University of Berkley and Shakti Foundation on India?s potential in this regard. As per the report, India?s wind power generation potential is in the range of 800 giga watt, which is 16 times the current official estimate.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu has already added more wind power generation capacity than the official estimate of its potential.
The official said that the actual potential may not be as high as the report suggests but it should still be much higher than the official estimate of 49,000 MW.
?The higher potential for wind power generation has been made possible by the improvement in technology. Due to this, wind power can now be generated even at higher heights. Besides, it has also be found that wind intensity is good enough at some places to run windmills even at levels lower than the mast height of 30-35 ft, which was considered appropriate for setting up wind power turbines earlier,? the official said.
?If we increase the height of the mast, we can generate more power. We can now set up projects even in those low-wind intensity areas where it was not commercially viable to generate power earlier,? he added.