CHENNAI: Ministry of new and renewable energy is keen on identifying land parcels for solar and wind power projects in Tamil Nadu so as to facilitate the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), to award projects to developers.
Already the MNRE officials, had last week held discussions with their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh to ascertain how much land each state is willing to set aside for renewable energy projects. Similar meetings with the officials from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka will take place soon. By identifying the land the MNRE hopes to expedite the projects on a fast mode by providing the required information for developers to bid comfortably and commence the projects rather thant hunt for property.
As per the estimates of the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) the wind power potential of India at 100 m height as 302 GW, considering 6 MW per square km. Within this potential, 153 GW can be developed from wasteland.
The study has been performed with actual land availability and excludes roads, railways, protected areas, airports, areas with elevation more than 1500 m and slope more than 20 degree. While Rajasthan has a wind energy potential of 15 GW, Tamil Nadu has 11, Maharashtra: 31, Gujarat: 52, Andhra: 22, Karnataka: 15 and others 7, thus totalling 153 GW.
According to a year-end review by the MNRE in December 2018, the country seeks to tender a total 20 GW of wind capacity by March 2020, with two-year implementation deadline, in order to facilitate enough growth to meet the expansion targets.
