Renewable Energy Witnessing a Wind of Change in India
The current total installed wind power capacity is 34.293GW and is going to expand to 60GW by FY 2022
By Rajeev Karthikeyan •
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Pioneering companies around the world are announcing their adoption of renewable energy. Apple in September 2018 announced being 100% powered by renewable energy. Tokyo is poised to use wind energy to power the stadiums at the upcoming 2020 Olympics.
The renewable energy sector in India has constantly been changing its landscape over the years. Wind, solar and hydel power has developed in pockets of the country and continues to do so at a rapid pace putting us on the global map as a major player in the sector. Wind energy in specific has tremendous potential in India given our geographical advantage of a vast coastline.
The Problem
The problem was a severe power shortage in the southern states that forced industries to curtail production due to non-availability of power. The initial purpose was to set up captive power plants for requirements of the textile industry in Coimbatore including our family run spinning mill. With power outages running for up to eight hours a day, things came down to survival. This is when we decided to acquire wind assets locally and generate power for the local industry. In 2010, micro-siting was not very reliable and we decided the best way to mitigate risks was to acquire wind assets with a track record.
Besides state and central government agencies, Fast emerging consumers of wind power include hospitals, shopping malls, hotels, IT Parks and other institutional players. Over the last 3 years, AI has enabled us to create very high-quality forecasting tools and we have helped state agencies better integrate Renewable power into the Grid.
India's Presence
Today, India has a strong presence in the global wind energy industry. In terms of wind power installed capacity, India is ranked 4th in the World. The wind power generation has significantly increased in recent years; today India is a major player in the global wind energy market. The current total installed wind power capacity is 34.293GW and is going to expand to 60GW by FY 2022. The growth of the sector has positioned wind energy as one of the cheapest sources of power in India.
