Topic : Energy (GS Paper III)
Wind remains the largest renewable power resource having a share of almost 65% in the total installed capacity. As on December, 2014 the total capacity has crossed 22000MW and the leading state are Tamil-Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Karnataka. The largest windfarm in India is Muppandal in Tamil-Nadu. There is a long-term objective to generate 60GW of power from wind energy resources by year 2022, as announced recently by Power Minister Mr. Piyush Goyal.
Why wind power developed in a better manner compared to solar power?
1) The cost factor : The cost per watt generated from wind power plants is lower compared to that from solar-power plants.
2) Government policies : The two important Government programmes related to this sector are
But these programmes were shelved in between when the Government started to concentrate more on the solar energy sector.
Parallel to the impetus provided to solar energy sector, the Government is also considering a time-bound plan to develop the wind energy sector. Here are a few steps taken in this regard.
Wind remains the largest renewable power resource having a share of almost 65% in the total installed capacity. As on December, 2014 the total capacity has crossed 22000MW and the leading state are Tamil-Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Karnataka. The largest windfarm in India is Muppandal in Tamil-Nadu. There is a long-term objective to generate 60GW of power from wind energy resources by year 2022, as announced recently by Power Minister Mr. Piyush Goyal.
Why wind power developed in a better manner compared to solar power?
1) The cost factor : The cost per watt generated from wind power plants is lower compared to that from solar-power plants.
2) Government policies : The two important Government programmes related to this sector are
- Accelerated Depreciation Scheme (ADS) - This provides a way of deferring corporate income taxes by reducing taxable income in current years, in exchange for increased taxable income in future years. Thus the producers need not carry the burden of high taxes for their establishment in their initial years but can pay them one's their business is stabilised.
- Generation Based Incentives (GBI) - incentive of 50 paise is provided for every unit of electricity generated from wind resources.
But these programmes were shelved in between when the Government started to concentrate more on the solar energy sector.
The current challenges ?
- Power generation from wind-mills is highly erratic since it depends of the speed of the wind which keeps varying. This demands for efficient power storage and evacuation systems.
- Even though it is cheaper than solar energy, when compared to coal-based or hydro power plants, it is expensive.
- Threats to wild-life in rural-areas - The massive turbines are a threat to birds. The large columns require deep digging which may affect the ecosystems there.
New developments ?
Parallel to the impetus provided to solar energy sector, the Government is also considering a time-bound plan to develop the wind energy sector. Here are a few steps taken in this regard.
- National Wind Energy Mission - to strengthen grid infrastructure for wind power, identify high wind power potential zones, ease land clearances for the projects, regulate wind power tariff and incentivise investment in the wind sector.
- The Accelerated Depreciation Scheme(ADS) and Generation Based Incentives(GBI) have been restarted for putting wind energy on the same league as the high-profile solar mission.
- The Green Energy Corridor - A 43000 Crore project supported by Germany with an objective of synchronising electricity produced from renewable sources, such as solar and wind, with conventional power stations in the grid. Currently the supply from renewable sources suffers from voltage-fluctuations on account of variations in generation. This demands for an efficient power storage and evacuation infrastructure. (A question regarding this was asked in 2013 Mains)
useful document sir
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