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| Fig. 1: Wind Turbines in India. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) |
The electricity demand has been doubled in the present decade due to the increase of the middle class, growing incomes, and change in technology-supported lifestyles. Electricity has been created in the past from fossil fuel combustion. This has been replaced now by environmentally friendly renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar power. Other than hydropower, wind energy is the most mature of the renewable sources of power. Since the 1980s, the development in the use of wind energy has been dramatic. Wind is used for higher power at a lower cost, and now accounts for 4% of the electrical power sector, which is much higher than any other renewable energy resource. The prospects for wind power development are dependent on the available wind resources, technical development, and the public acceptance. [1]
India is a world leader when it comes to wind energy. There are a large number of wind turbine farms in India. Muppandal Wind Farm, located in Tamil Nadu, has an installed capacity of 1,500 MW, making it one of the world's largest (see Fig. 1). In order for India to sustain its 8% average annual economic growth and in order to support its growing population, the country needs to generate two to three times more energy than what it produces currently. Renewable energy is the only way to provide a good solution to this problem. Wind turbines have helped solve this problem. Their prices have been reduced by almost one third since 2009, allowing it to become an inexpensive source of energy production. This is a much better option for power generation, since wind power eliminates air pollution by reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide. [2] In 2017 to 2018, Tamil Nadu had the record wind energy in India and led the clean energy chart. Tangedco used 13,000 million units of wind energy and 2,905 million units of solar energy during this year. This state saved at least 5,406 million tonnes of carbon. According to state electricity minister P Thangamani, Tamil Nadu is the leader among all states when it comes to the green energy initiative. It had an installed capacity of 11,113 MW in March of 2018 compared to 10,480 MW at the end of the previous year. [3]
Though India is already thriving on its renewable energy production, it has the capability for improvements looking forward. By 2022, India can become a global wind energy exporter if the government continues to back its commitment to achieve 40% of the country's power from non-fossil fuels. According to Tulsi Tanti, Chairman of the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association, India is best positioned to become the export hub owing to its cost competitiveness, mature wind energy value chain and technology-edge. [4]
© Caroline Lampl. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] W. E. Leithead, "Wind Energy," Philos. T. R. Soc. A 365, 957 (2007).
[2] M. C. Gopinathan and R. Sudhakaran, "Biofuels: Opportunities and Challenges in India," Vitro Cell. Dev. Bio.-Plant 45, 350 (2009).
[3] B. Sivakumar, "Tamil Nadu Taps Record Wind Energy for 2017-18, Leads Clean Energy Chart," Times of India, 1 Jun 18.
[4] "India Can Export up to 5 GW Wind Energy by 2022: Tulsi Tanti," The Hindu, 2 Jul 18.
