India taps into wind power

By Monica Chadha
BBC News, Mumbai

Windmills are springing up across India

The industrial area of Bhiwandi, about an hour's drive from Mumbai (Bombay) is a prime example of just how voracious India's demand for energy is.

Jayantilal Manji Nakum runs a textile processing unit here and faces power cuts on a regular basis, some days going up to 16 hours without any electricity.

He has no choice but to run his machines with the help of a diesel generator which has pushed up his production costs and brought down profits.

Mr Nakum says he cannot afford to run it any more and his unit continues to function solely on the faith that the situation will improve.

"This is the end," he told the BBC News website. "The government tells us the situation will improve and we are just living in that hope. But if the acute power shortage is not dealt with quickly, I will have to shut down in a matter of months."

Wind farms

The city of Mumbai, which has never faced power cuts before, may also soon join the ranks of other cities in the country where they are the norm.

But perhaps the answer to these power problems, to quote singer Bob Dylan, is blowing in the wind.

Wind power is the new renewable energy that is being harnessed in India to meet its growing needs.

A lot of fossil fuel companies are moving towards renewable energy as a matter of social responsibility Suzlon spokesperson Vivek Kher

In the past five years, the industry has added about 6,000 megawatts of power supply and hopes to add another 8,000 to 9,000 megawatts by 2012 - enough to meet Mumbai's power needs for almost three days.

India is the world's fifth largest producer of wind energy, and gets moderate winds during the monsoon period between the months of April and October.

Remote, exposed hilly areas in southern India and the central peninsula region have been identified as good places to set up wind farms.

While most of them are based in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, one of Asia's largest wind farms is based in the Satara region of western Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital.

Areas around the city of Pune have been found suitable for wind farms, and one of Asia's largest wind turbine manufacturers, Suzlon Energy, is based here. The company was set up in 1995 and has grown phenomenally because of investor interest in wind energy.

Global concerns

Suzlon spokesperson Vivek Kher told the BBC that wind energy is now the centre of attention because of rising fuel prices, geopolitical uncertainties surrounding oil producing countries and a growing concern about global warming and climate change.

Major power companies such as Reliance Energy, Tata Power and the state-run Hindustan Petroleum have all entered into multi-million dollar deals with Suzlon to increase wind power capacity.

Mr Kher said global concerns were forcing them to go green.

"Transmission and distribution companies have been mandated to source a minimum percentage of their power from renewable energy sources, and therefore a lot of fossil fuel companies are moving towards it as a matter of social responsibility, to diversify their energy portfolio."

Many power looms cannot work because of electricity shortages

When asked how Suzlon deals with criticism related to wind farming - critics say it ruins the aesthetics of the countryside and causes noise pollution - Mr Kher said the company has been fortunate enough to not face any such concerns where it operates.

"The markets which we have been active in - the United States, India, China, Australia, Spain, Portugal and Italy - these countries do not have many wind turbines, so we have not encountered this kind of social or community problems."

Smaller firms and individuals have also invested in wind turbines.

India has still not reached a stage where energy produced in a wind turbine is directly supplied to the user. All energy here is sent via sub-stations to the state grid from where it is supplied to various homes and industries.

Businessman Rajeev Joshi runs a plastics unit and bought 20 wind turbines to power his business.

He says that before that his power came from the state grid - primarily coal-powered plants - and that he faced massive power cuts.

'Pipedream'

Now, even though it is the same grid that provides him with electricity, his energy needs are met, and he feels good to have made the switch to a cleaner source.

"I have been working in this area for the last 35 years," he said, "and society has given me everything.

Electricity shortages are eating into profits

"The best way to repay is to conserve nature, so that we can promote nature and give the best energy."

The Indian government is promoting wind energy by offering tax incentives to investors.

Even so, it constitutes only 1% of the energy units supplied to grids.

The government's secretary for new and renewable energy, V Subramaniam, says even at its maximum potential, wind energy will never meet India's power needs.

"It is too much of a pipedream," he said.

"Even when I tell you that wind energy has a potential of 45,000 megawatts, assuming we explore the entire potential, our energy requirement is many times that. So all that I will say is that it will play a very secondary role."

At the current rate of wind power growth, maximum generating capacity will be met in another 20 years time.

It will only make small difference to India's overall energy mix, but in a country rapidly industrialising, some would say that for green energy to play any part at all is a significant achievement.