India's wind industry predicted to billow beyond 60GW

It will be crossing the mark ahead of its 2022 target.

Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association (IWTMA)  announced that the Indian Wind industry will meet Government’s target of 60 GW ahead of 2022 deadline.

The domestic wind market is on a growth path in the competitive bidding regime and there is an increased demand for clean energy, which has now become a reliable, affordable and mainstream source of energy. The industry has regained momentum and there is a clear business visibility of 10 - 12 GW even before the start of this financial year with announcement and plan of bids by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).The industry is confident of the Government's continuous support.

Tulsi Tanti, Chairman, IWTMA, said, “In FY18, the wind industry witnessed a transition from the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) to the competitive bidding regime; hence there was a temporary drop in volumes. The industry is now on a growth trajectory with a healthy order pipeline, owing to auctions by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI)I, II, III, IV (6,050 MW) and state level bids in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Maharashtra (1500 MW). With SECI IV, V and NTPC bids coming up, another 4 GW is expected to be auctioned in this month. Volumes are set to grow exponentially with ~10- 12 GW auctions each year from SECI and state bids combined, as well as from projects less than 25 MW based on a determined tariff. At the current rate, the wind industry is on course to add~30GW of new capacity in the next three years, thereby taking the cumulative total capacity to ~60 GW by FY21..”

“There is a clear visibility of continuous volumes in the coming years which will signal gradual stabilization of tariff, which will also depend on wind regimes in different states. We are seeing large scale projects of 200 – 300 MW capacity, which brings in advantages of scale at project level, leading to cost optimization there by benefitting working capital of companies. Technological innovation is playing a big role as manufacturers are working towards bringing down the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) and increasing Plant Load Factor (PLF). The next-generation turbines from leading manufacturers can deliveraround 35 - 40 % PLF in high wind states, which is almost twice the PLF compared to Solar”, he added.

The wind industry is determined and focused on enabling India’s Energy security, affordable energy for all and transition to a low-carbon economy.