12/02/2019 - Government policies

IAS Parliament 6 years

KEY POINTS

· Considered much cheaper than solar, wind energy is globally emerging as a favourite option, especially when energy is a major expense. It is now being deployed and is operational in many countries including India.

· Wind power development, which started in India in the 1990s, has significantly increased in the last few years. India plans to add 60 GW of wind power installed capacity by the year 2022.

· According National Institute of Wind Energy, domestic policy support for wind power has enabled India to become the fourth largest in the world with an installed capacity of over 34 GW as of June 2018, despite being a new comer to this Industry.

Policy Support by Government of India

· For precise wind quality measurements one LiDAR(Light Detection and Ranging) has been installed near Gujarat coast which is generating data about quality of off-shore wind since November, 2017.

· Encouraged by quality of off-shore wind, a private sector player has also installed LiDAR in Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat for offshore wind resource measurements.

· Waiver of Inter-State Transmission Charges and losses;

· Empowering of Wind Power Projects through competitive bidding and for optimal utilization of wind resources.

· Offshore wind energy policy for development of offshore wind energy in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone.

· Supporting research and development on various aspects of renewable energy including with industry participation.

With the right steps, India’s wind industry is poised to meet the government’s revised target of 67 GW ahead of 2022. Moreover, wind is riding strong on the competitive bidding regime and an increased demand for green energy that is reliable, affordable and a mainstream source of energy.

Thus the wind Industry is regaining momentum, considering there is a clear visibility of 10-12 GW with a plan of further bids by the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE).