Gujarat is India’s No.1 Wind Energy Producer

Ahmedabad, DeshGujarat

In 2007-08 year Gujarat added 616 MW wind energy. Gujarat has become the number one state of India in wind power generation. Gujarat currently produces 1192 MW power through wind mills set up in the coastal areas of Saurashtra and Kutch. Tamilnadu, which is considered the most ideal and leading Indian state for wind energy generation, produced only 350 MW power in 2007-08. Other follower wind power generating states were Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

According to Gujarat Energy Development Authority (GEDA) survey, Gujarat has a potential to produce about 7000 to 8000 MW more wind power. In the current year, an extra 600 MW power would be produced in the new wind farms being set up. 50 sites have been identified as wind farms based on wind speed data collected and analyze by Gujarat Energy Development Authority(GEDA) under the aegis of ministry of Non Conventional Sources of Energy. These farms will be on the belt from Kutch to Porbandar and along the Bhavnagar sea coast.

By 2009, around 600 new wind energy projects may come to Gujarat. Reliance, Anacron, GSFC, GNFC and CLP(Hong Kong) are said have shown interest in the sector. Companies investing in the green energy sector enjoy huge income tax and excise duty rebates. Reliance power has entered the sector through a nodal company and has set up a small unit in Kutch on an experimental basis. A wind power project will also come at the site of Kalpasar, the state government’s tidal power project which has been closed down. This project is expected to start generating power within 3 months of its commissioning.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recently announced that it is going to extend rupee loans worth $113 million to the Indian unit of CLP Holdings, Hong Kong to partly fund it’s Gujarat wind power project. Hong Kong’s largest power utility, CLP is going to set up two wind power projects in Gujarat and Karnataka states at a total cost of 9.9 billion rupees ($248 million) and add 183.2 megawatts in capacity. In Gujarat, CLP’s wind power farm is coming up in Samana near Jamnagar.

It should be noted that India is the fourth largest generator of wind power in the world after Germany, Spain and United States. India was one of the five countries that added more than 1,000-MW wind energy capacity during 2006-07. Wind is all set to become a significant contributor to India’s endeavor towards meeting its growing energy needs. Over the next five years, the country plans to boost the wind energy capability to the extent of 2,000 MW per year. As it stands, the gross potential for wind power has been estimated at 45,000-MW. India was the world’s top third country in terms of added wind power capacity last year with the global annual investment in renewable energy expected to exceed $100 billion by end-2007. India was number three globally in added wind power capacity in 2006. Wind power has continued to grow at 25-30 percent per year since 2000 and now receives the largest share of annual investments among renewable sources of energy. It will reach at least 93 GW cumulative capacity in 2007, up from just 7.5 GW in 1997.

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પાછલા એક જ વર્ષમાં ૬૦૦ મેગાવોટની ઉત્પાદન ક્ષમતાના સો ટકા ઉમેરા સાથે ગુજરાત ૧૧૯૨ મેગાવોટ ઉત્પાદિત કરતુ ભારતનું પ્રથમ નંબરનું પવન ઉર્જા ઉત્પાદક બની ગયું છે. અત્યાર સુધી તમિલનાડુ પ્રથમ ક્રમાંકે હતુ પણ તમિલનાડુએ ગુજરાતના ૧૧૯૨ની સરખામણીમાં માત્ર ૩૫૦ મેગાવોટ જ ઉત્પાદિત કર્યા હતા. જામનગરના સમાણા પાસે હોંગકોંગનું વિખ્યાત સીએલપી ગ્રુપ પવનચક્કીઓ સ્થાપિત કરી રહ્યું છે ઉપરાંત કલ્પસરની દરિયાના મોજાથી વીજળી ઉત્પાદિત કરવાની બંધ પડેલી સાઈટ પર પવનચક્કી ફાર્મ આવી રહ્યું છે. ચાલુ વર્ષે વધુ ૬૦૦ મેગાવોટના પ્લાન અમલી બની રહ્યા છે. એક અભ્યાસ મુજબ પવનચક્કી દ્વારા વીજ ઉત્પાદનની ગુજરાતની કેપેસીટી સાતથી આઠ હજાર મેગાવોટની છે.