Tamil Nadu is confident of regaining its pole position in wind energy through a slew of policy incentives, said Rajesh Lakhoni, Chairman and Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd. (Tangedco).
Gujarat has surpassed Tamil Nadu to become the top State in terms of installed wind power capacity. They are ahead by a few 100 megawatts, he pointed out in his special address at the inaugural day of Windergy India 2023, a three-day trade fair and conference held in Chennai.
Mr. Lakhoni said that Tamil Nadu had a unique advantage when compared to other States with wind power as it was available round the clock for three to four months.
During the recent wind energy season, 40% of the power requirement was met through wind energy and coal power plants were shut during the period, he said.
When offshore wind energy comes on stream, the wind energy availability will be from June-February and the dependence of coal-based plants will reduce further, Mr. Lakhoni said.
He pointed out that with the availability of wind power, a hybrid model of wind and solar might not work out for Tamil Nadu. Instead, the State has been looking at pumped storage and also to bring out a policy to incentivise solar generation, Mr. Lakhoni said.
Tamil Nadu will also soon bring out a repowering policy for replacing ageing wind turbines, he said.
However, Mr. Lakhoni said one of the challenges is that 65% of the windmills set in the State are for captive consumption with smaller capacities and by repowering with higher capacities, they might lose their captive status.
Financial burden
Also, the banking facility for wind energy puts a huge financial burden on Tangedco, he said. “So, we have sought suggestions from the industry to come up with alternative solutions to be included in the repowering policy,” Mr. Lakhoni said.
He pointed out another challenge, which was about forecasting wind energy. The current forecast methodology does not include the location of the windmill.
Dinesh Jagdale, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, said the prospects of the wind energy sector are looking bright, after undergoing a bad phase in the past five years. Wind energy will play a critical role in India’s energy transition, he said.
On the industry’s request for production linked incentive scheme (PLI), Mr. Jagdale said already 70-80% of the wind component manufacturing is localised. “We should be careful about what we seek. The resources available under PLI are limited to certain industries,” he said.
H.E. Freddy Svane, Danish Ambassador to India said Denmark is looking to help and partner India in its push towards on-shore, off-shore and near-shore wind energy initiatives.
D. V. Giri, secretary general, Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association; Hansraj Verma, Chairman and Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation also spoke on the occasion.
