"Government's wind power targets are ambitious and the challenges are coming up to their realisation." Comment on India's achievements and problems in the wind energy sector.
The central government has put strong focus on expanding renewable energy capacity, including solar power, to reduce the carbon footprint. India has ambitious plans to almost double its wind energy capacity to 60GW by 2022, from about 34GW at present. However, sector added 1.7 gigawatts (GW) in the last fiscal year, trailing a target of 4GW set by the government.
Wind power capacities have been installed in eight states that have strong wind velocities—Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka. In the last 12 to 15 months, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), the nodal agency for wind and solar energy auctions, and state utilities in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat issued tenders for a total of 8GW of wind energy.
Wind energy developers in India are struggling to add capacity due low tariffs and poor connectivity to the grid. In December, the lowest tariff for wind energy, of ₹2.43 a unit, was seen in a Gujarat state utility auction.
Besides low tariffs, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) blame the lack of power evacuation infrastructure for the slow pick-up in new wind projects.