A view of a wind farm near Coimbatore. File photograph
Gujarat overtook Tamil Nadu last year with the highest installed wind energy capacity. Investors and wind energy generators in Tamil Nadu are now seeking measures to revive the wind energy sector in the State.
According to data available online, Gujarat has an installed wind energy capacity of 10, 415 MW compared with 10, 124 MW in Tamil Nadu. Of this, the installed wind energy capacity connected to the Tamil Nadu grid is 8,923.89 MW.
A.D. Thirumoorthy, a member of the State-level Renewable Energy Committee, told The Hindu that just about 300 MW was added to the existing installed wind energy capacity in Tamil Nadu last year. The State, he said, has the potential to have at least 3,000 MW of additional installed capacity.
When windmill installations began coming up in the State in the 1980s and 1990s, all the prime sites were occupied. After that, the secondary sites were filled with high efficiency machinery. Now, with most of the high wind sites occupied, there is a need to repower the sites that have lower capacities or machinery with lower efficiencies. “One possible way to do this is the government should acquire such sites, repower them and sell them again,” he said.
Further, for a long time, Tamil Nadu has faced issues of delays in payments for renewable energy supplied to the grid and this has also discouraged new installations. This problem however, was sorted over the past year.
Finally, there is the problem of not permitting the banking of wind energy generated. In an interim order dated March 11, 2024, the Madras High Court said an annual banking facility should be provided for lifetime completed windmills too, until the final orders of the court. Tangedco has started this process — but it does not mention banking facilities for new installations, Mr. Thirumoorthy said.
A representative of the wind energy generating textile mills said the withdrawal of the banking facility was a major hit for high tension consumers with captive wind mills. Even now, Tangedco is saying that it would extend this facility only to those consumers who approached the court. Other consumers therefore, will be denied the banking facility and can only get relief by approaching the court, he said.