India’s wind energy sector is led by indigenous wind power industry and has shown consistent progress. The expansion of the wind industry has resulted in a strong ecosystem, project operation capabilities and manufacturing base of about 15000MW per annum. The country currently has the fourth highest wind installed capacity in the world. The Government is promoting wind power projects in entire country through private sector investment by providing various fiscal and financial incentives such as Accelerated Depreciation benefit; concessional custom duty exemption on certain components of wind electric generators. Besides, Generation Based Incentive (GBI) Scheme was available for the wind projects commissioned before 31 March 2017.
In addition to fiscal and other incentives as stated above, following steps also have been taken to promote installation of wind capacity in the country:
Wind is an intermittent and site-specific resource of energy and therefore, an extensive Wind Resource Assessment is essential for the selection of potential sites. The Government, through National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), has installed over 900 wind-monitoring stations all over the country and issued wind potential maps at 50m, 80m, 100m, 120m and 150m above ground level. The recent assessment indicates a gross wind power potential of 695.50 at 120 meter and 1163.9 GW at 150 meter above ground level. Most of this potential exists in eight windy States.
| State | Wind Potential at 120 m (GW) | Wind Potential at 150 m (GW) |
|---|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh | 74.90 | 123.3 |
| Gujarat | 142.56 | 180.8 |
| Karnataka | 124.15 | 169.3 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 15.40 | 55.4 |
| Maharashtra | 98.21 | 173.9 |
| Rajasthan | 127.75 | 284.2 |
| Tamil Nadu | 68.75 | 95.1 |
| Telangana | 24.83 | 54.7 |
| Total 8 windy states | 676.55 | 1136.7 |
| Others | 18.95 | 27.1 |
| Total | 695.50 | 1163.9 |
