A govt order released earlier this month may help power Tamil Nadu back into the top spot in the wind energy sector.The order makes revisions to the govt’s Wind Repowering and Life Extension Policy (WRLEP) 2024, which was released to increase installed capacity of wind power in Tamil Nadu after Gujarat edged the state out of its number one position (Gujarat hit 13,816.68MW of installed capacity against TN’s 11,398.31MW).
The 2024 policy proposed replacing old, low-capacity wind turbines with more powerful ones, but wind energy generators went to court opposing its ‘impractical’ banking arrangements, huge deposits with the discom, and mandatory replacement of turbines as old as 20 years.Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation (TNGECL) formed a sub-committee to sort out the issues. Now, in the Jan 14 GO, the state govt approved the sub-committee’s amendments that extend the lifetime of windmills installed after 2016 to 25 years and brought down development charges from 3 lakh per megawatt to 50,000.T Shivaraman, chairman of the Indian Wind Power Association, says the original policy required certification following international standards, which are difficult to obtain besides being “prohibitively expensive”. “Now this certification process is modified, made simple and relevant for the old turbines considering the ground realities, and that will serve the intended purpose.”“The revised policy will act as a catalyst for wind energy generators to come forward to repower windmills and increase installed capacity,” says TNPDCL chairman J Radhakrishnan.“Installed wind capacity will soon increase by 500MW to 1,000MW, with existing wind energy generators opting for replacement of existing windmills,” says TNGECL managing director Aneesh Sekhar. He adds that TNGECL will set a precedent by repowering its windfarms in Kayathar through a hybrid system of wind and solar to a total capacity of 40MW. “Windmills up to 3.2MW capacity will replace the old wind turbines,” he says.With the renewed policy, more investors will consider investing in TN’s wind sector, says Renewable Energy Producers Association (REPA) chief advisor K Venkatachalam.
