China added 13,000 MW of wind power capacity to bring the total installed capacity to 25,104 MW. With a total of 10,926 MW, India occupied the fifth slot adding 1,271 MW. India is looking to boost the potential of its wind energy sector.
The Indian Wind Power Association headquartered in Chennai which has 1000 members’ most of them who are investors in Wind Energy is inaugurated the two day international conference called ‘WE by 2020 in Delhi at Indian Habitat Centre, on 11th and 12th of February 2010 at 9am. Farooq Abdullah, the Minister for New and Renewable Energy inaugurated the conference.
Dr Peter Hauge Madsen, Head Wind Energy Division, in the RISO National Laboratory of Denmark Mr Shyam Saran Special Envoy on Nuclear and Climate Change issues and also participated in the Conference. About 200 delegates across the globe were present. The major wind turbine manufacturers like Suzlon, Vestas India, Enercon (India) and the recent entrants like Leitner Shriram, ReGen Powertech, Ghodawat Energy, and Gamesa are participating in the exhibition. Besides major investors in wind energy like CLP India and MSPL Ltd are also participating in an exhibition here.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, said, "Recently introduced Generation Based Incentive Scheme and the continuation of the accelerated depreciation benefits till the end of the current plan period makes investment in the wind power sector attractive. Out of a feasible potential of 45000 MW estimated by the Ministry long ago, the installed capacity of wind was only 11000 MW as the end of December 2009 and thus there is large scope for tapping the potential. The Government will soon be coming out with revised wind atlas which would probably come out with new places in the country having potential for generation of wind power".
Mr Shyam Saran Special Envoy on Nuclear and Climate Change issues in his address said Wind energy can play an important role in combating the evil effects of global warming as it is a clean and green source of energy.
Dr Peter Hauge Madsen, Head Wind Energy Division, in the RISO National Laboratory of Denmark in his key note address said, "Wind energy is generally recognized as a key solution in the fight against climate change and the desire to free society from its dependence on fossil fuels. In view of the significant untapped potential for wind power, the target of 20% wind power penetration in the Indian Grid by 2020 is a feasible goal". He however stated that this will depend on a number of factors like suitable policies and regulation, appropriate wind turbine technology, availability of sites on-shore and perhaps also off shore, reliable and accurate wind resource assessment , grid capacity, power system management etc.
Mr Kastoorirangaian, Chairman of the Association welcomed the gathering and said "The activities of the Association are aimed at increasing the growth of the wind energy. Wind Energy 20 by 2020, the International Conference on Wind Energy at New Delhi on 11th & 12th February, 2010 is a manifestation of IWPA’s ambition and a private sector initiative to take India on big growth path – a thinking in line with that of NAPCC – National action plan on climate change of our Prime Minister".
He stated that IWPA is twice as big as European Wind Energy Association of 500 Members. He further stated that because IWPA is closely working with State utilities, Regulatory commissions, Nodal Agencies, State advisory committees task forces, Centre for Wind Energy Technology and the like , its activities are highly representative, region and country oriented, visionary and in the overall interest of the entire spectrum of members, the wind sector and the country in general.
India today is facing shortage of power. Power is a crucial input for the growth of the country. WE have been mainly depending on coal for generating power. The avialbility of coal is limited and if we import coal it adds to the foreign exchange risk and the outflow of resources from the country. Further, burning coal for producing electricity, releases gases which are harmful to the health. In order to conserve coal as well as to make our earth a better place to live, we need to tap renewable energy sources like sun, wind, etc. Among the renewable energy sources, the wind power technology has been tested successfully and has been established as commercially viable.
Out of a total installed capacity of 15691.43 MW of grid interactive renewable power, wind power accounts for 10,925 MW (70%). However, in terms of energy fed into the grid, the wind power sector today is a marginal player accounting for only 3% of the total power fed into the grid. With the increasing awareness of the ill effects of global warming, we need to do something fast if we have to save our environment. Hence the theme of the conference is to make the wind power from a marginal player to core player by increasing the share of wind energy from the present level of 3% to 20% by the year 2020. The Conference aims at finding a road map for achieving this. The details of the sessions are in the attachment.
The Indian Wind Power Association is the largest Association of various stake holders in the wind power industry. The total membership strength of the Association is about 1000 and nearly 950 members are investors in wind energy. The investor member strength of the association is almost double of the membership strength of the European Wind Energy Association. Europe is considered to be number one in the world in terms of installed capacity of wind power.
This is a pan India Association and its members spread over ten states in the country which have wind potential. The National Office of the Association is at Chennai and has a regional office at Delhi. The Association also has its State Councils at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Jaipur. It will shortly be opening its State Council at Mumbai also. The main objective of the Association is to promote wind energy in the country. India today is the fifth largest in the world in terms of wind power installed capacity. As a part of its activity, the Association has been conducting a number of State level seminars and training classes. This is the first time the Association has organized an International Conference and at Delhi to show case to the world what India can offer to them for investments in the wind energy sector.
www.indianwindpower.com/pdf/GWEO_A4_2008_India_LowRes.pdf
