Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, R K Singh, on Thursday (29 July), informed Lok Sabha that more than 70 per cent of the equipment used in the generation of wind power in India is manufactured within the country.
The minister stated that the Government has put in place a system of approved lists of models and manufacturers. Only equipment manufactured by manufacturers in the approved list is allowed to be used for wind energy projects.
The wind resource is highly site-specific, and its commercially exploitable potential is available only in seven states, i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Karnataka.
Wind power projects are set up by private developers based on the techno-economic viability of the project.
“Tenders to set up wind power projects of a cumulative capacity of 20,000 MW have been invited by various central and state agencies in the country, out of which 14,332 MW projects have been awarded. A cumulative of 39,486 MW capacity of wind power projects have been installed in the country, as on 30 June 2021,” the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said.
The Government has taken several steps to promote wind energy in the country, which include permitting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) up to 100 per cent under the automatic route and waiver of Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) charges for inter-state sale of wind power for projects to be commissioned by 30 June 2025.
Other measures include setting up of Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks to provide land and transmission to renewable energy developers on a plug and play basis, Generation Based Incentive (GBI) to the wind projects commissioned on or before 31 March 2017, and technical support including wind resource assessment and identification of potential sites through the National Institute of Wind Energy.