India - Delhi seeks to tap Rajasthan’s wind energy

In keeping with her vision of “Green Games”, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is considering bringing wind energy to the Capital. And for this, the Delhi Government is looking to Rajasthan, a state that already uses a considerable amount of power produced through windmills. “We are definitely considering this alternate energy system. Tamil Nadu is another state that uses wind energy, but because of the distance between the two states, taking TN’s assistance will not be viable,” said Dikshit, adding that she has asked the power department to look into the modalities of the system.

Senior officials in the power department of Delhi Government said that the government is considering setting up windmills in Rajasthan to generate an additional 200 MW to add to Delhi’s current 3,000 MW supply. Delhi’s own generation of power is limited to approximately 1,200 MW, despite the rapidly growing demand. Rajasthan’s utilisation of wind energy is 18 per cent as opposed to Tamil Nadu’s 35 per cent. “This means that we will have to make more capital investment in Rajasthan. We are currently working out the possibility of how wind energy can be transmitted to Delhi,” said Principal Secretary, Power, Rakesh Mehta.

The Government is looking at a number of private concerns for the job. Suzlon Energy Limited, which generates and supplies wind energy in Rajasthan, has already made its presentation to the Chief Minister. There are around eight companies across the country, including Suzlon and Vesta, which generate wind energy being used by Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Kerala. “But electricity produced by windmills is primarily used by industries. This is because the industries receive carbon credits for using alternate fuel as well as many tax incentives from their state governments. Delhi will be the first state to use windmill power for general consumption - industries, households, commercial units and offices,” said Mehta on Wednesday.

For now the Delhi Government has asked private concerns to supply five years wind energy data, including the timings of the power produced and its utilisation.

Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) figures show that 2006 recorded an increase of installed capacity of 15,197 (MW) in wind energy, taking the total installed wind energy capacity globally to 74,223 MW, up from 59,091 MW in 2005.

In terms of economic value, the wind energy sector has become one of the important players in the energy markets, with the total value of new generating equipment installed in 2006 reaching $ 23 billion. Countries with highest total installed capacity are Germany (20,621 MW), Spain (11,615 MW), USA (11,603 MW), India (6,270 MW) and Denmark (3,136 MW).