Discuss the various challenges present in the generation and distribution of Wind energy in India and suggest remedial measures to overcome it. (200 Words)
Refer - Business Standard
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
K. V. A 5 years
Pls review
IAS Parliament 5 years
Try to include about transmission loss, storage of power. Keep Writing.
IAS Parliament 5 years
KEY POINTS
Challenges
· The first signs of trouble appeared soon after the Wind sector shifted to reverse auctions, from the 15-year-old feed-in-tariff (FiT) regime. With an aggressive bid within the first year, the sector achieved the lowest tariff discovered for renewable power in the country, Rs 2.43/kWh.
· After the auction, developers started scrambling to procure land and secure connectivity to evacuation infrastructure. Wind power relies on geographically concentrated resources where getting contiguous land can be difficult.
· Around 60 per cent of the capacity auctioned in 2017 has not yet been commissioned and is behind schedule owing to land and connectivity issues.
· Even though there are seven wind-rich states, only two of them have sites with mean wind speeds high enough to provide the expected low tariffs (<Rs 2.85/kWh), causing stress on existing land and evacuation facilities.
· Unlike solar PV, the wind sector has a globally competitive domestic supply chain in India. Low annual capacity additions are gravely impacting small domestic turbine and parts manufacturers, while bigger (mostly international) players can survive the turbulence.
Remedial measures
· Distributing capacity means tapping into wind resources available in medium-to-low wind power density (WPD) regions.
· While Tamil Nadu and Gujarat have the highest wind speeds and account for 39 per cent of the total wind potential in India, (according to the National Institute of Wind Energy), there is an aggregate potential of 184 GW in other medium-to-low WPD regions.
· Commissioning wind farms in these states could reduce stress on land and evacuation facilities, potentially reduce the investment required for inter-state transmission infrastructure, and reduce the overall cost of integrating wind power into the grid.
· In order to optimise energy production from low-WPD sites, there is need for policy support to give incentives to develop advanced turbine technologies, which could tap low wind speeds.
· Distributing the energy generated — to work, effective mechanisms are necessary to transfer power from point of generation to the nearest transmission network and to the periphery of offtakers’ networks.
· The Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) mechanism is meant to facilitate the inter-state transfer of power. But compliance of distribution companies with RPOs is staggeringly low. Stricter compliance would go a long way to facilitate inter-state power exchange.
· Strengthening existing market mechanisms, such as power trading and open access, with regulatory and technological means would be another option.
· Additionally, inter-state and intra-state transmission networks need rapid expansion to keep pace with renewable energy deployment to pre-empt a real technical constraint in power transmission across the country.
Madhaba Chandra gharai 5 years
Sir check it.
IAS Parliament 5 years
Try to include problems of low tariff, loss incurred by wind mills, low annual capacity additions etc. Keep Writing.
