Winds of Change

Policy initiatives that foster greater growth and remove bottlenecks are required to help the clean energy sector attain the 60 GW target by 2022.

- R Srinivasan

Growth in the Indian wind energy sector this year exceeded expectations, despite the greater focus on solar, and as per Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) data, wind power installations in financial year 2016 reportedly outpaced the targeted growth. This achievement comes at a time when many other industries are struggling to exhibit growth. As per Power Minister Piyush Goyal’s recent announcement, a total accumulative capacity of over 44,235 MW has been installed in the country from various renewable energy sources, of which 27,151 MW is from wind power.

Over-all wind energy scenario

Asked to comment on the over-all wind energy scenario since last year, Corporate PR-India Power Corporation Ltd, said, “After restoration of Accelerated Depreciation (AD) benefit and Generation Based Incentive (GBI), investment in the wind energy sector has increased substantially. In FY 2015-16, the highest-ever annual capacity addition of 3.4 GW was recorded in the Indian wind sector, which has contributed to exceed the total installed capacity of 27 GW.”

Aditya Ravindran, Associate Consultant and Chinmay Verma, Associate Consultant – Energy Vertical, Feedback Business Consulting Services Pvt Ltd, said, “Wind energy installations have seen a steady growth over the years. The trend slowed down a bit in the beginning of this decade and has however recovered in FY’16. After FY’12, the wind energy capacity addition has again crossed the 3 GW mark in FY’16. The following graph shows installed wind energy capacity in the country at the end of each financial year since FY’10.”