Wind power generation in the district has been picking up well in the district for the past one week, thanks to strong winds with high velocity.
High potential for wind power generation and availability of large tracts of open land attracted several companies, including foreign wind power companies to the district.
At present, wind power generating turbines in the district have been generating roughly 13 lakh to 14 lakh units every day in the past one week, owing to sharp increase in velocity of wind, according to V. Madhana Mohan, Superintending Engineer, Tamil Nadu State Electricity Board.
Now, the district has 85 wind power generating units with a total power generation capacity of 135 MW. All the units had been jointly generating 45 MW of power last week.
However, the power generation had touched its peak of 100 MW in some days, he added.
“Increase or decrease in quantum of power generation depends on speed of the wind and its duration. All these units are hooked on with the national grid.”
Many have planned to commission more units in the district. Even multinational companies, including mega firms from Spain, too chose Theni as their prime location, next to Coimbatore, to set up large number of wind farms.
Already, many private companies had started installing the windmills in Gandamanur, Rasingapuram, Kamatchipuram and Andipatti. The total units in the district would cross 125-mark shortly.
The TNEB officials said that land requirement for commissioning the equipment and infrastructure in one unit was very less. Ten square metre of land will suffice to set up one unit. Besides, power lines and towers too will occupy only small portion of land.
The companies needed at least Rs.4 to Rs.5 crore for commissioning one unit that could produce one MW power, said wind energy generators. It is a common sight to see at least three to six trailer lorries that carried long wings meant for wind power unit passing through Dindigul-Theni highway in the district.
Theni will soon become one of the main hubs of wind power generation in the State, TNEB engineers hoped.
Already, hydel power generation at the Lower Camp near Goodalur was stopped, owing to poor storage in the Periyar dam. All the four power turbines have the total capacity of generate 135 MW of power. But one of the four turbines often paralysed, owing to technical snag.
In the absence of hydel power generation, the wind energy has been balancing the loss of power generation through hydel power.
