Kerala is set to add 25 MW of wind energy to its installed capacity this year to feed the State’s starved power grid.
As many as three wind farms are coming up in Palakkad and Idukki districts. The largest one in the State with a capacity of 22 MW is being set up at Kanjikode by Inox Wind, a Noida-based private company, on land leased out by the State government. The Kerala State Electricity Board has contracted to buy the power generated by the 11 windmills to be established under the project.
The two other projects include a 2 MW wind farm and a one MW unit at Ramakkalmedu in Idukki.
R. Harikumar, Director, Agency for Non-conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT), said the 22-MW plant was expected to be commissioned by the first quarter of the year. He said another 10-MW project was awaiting technical sanction.
The State currently generates 43.1 MW of wind energy from different locations in Palakkad and Idukki, districts with the highest wind potential. ANERT is in the process of updating the wind potential at different locations in the State. The data generated by eight wind monitoring stations in Idukki, Palakkad, Malappuram and Kozhikode are being constantly assessed.
A proposal to develop offshore wind farms in collaboration with the Dutch government was dropped following protests by fishermen and constraints imposed by CRZ (coastal regulation zone) norms.
Kerala is one of the States with the lowest installed capacity for wind power. According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) the State has utilized only 2.56 per cent of its total wind power potential of 1,700 MW by March 2016.
The installed capacity of wind energy projects in India last year was 26,777 MW, representing 8.86 per cent of the country’s wind potential. Tamil Nadu, with 7613.86 MW, contributes the highest share of 28% of the country’s total wind capacity.
Dr. Harikumar told The Hindu that ANERT had drawn up an ambitious plan to enhance the share of renewables in the State’s energy spectrum. “We hope to generate an additional 11.4 MW of solar power this year from rooftop plants,” he said.
The government has also announced plans to set up two solar parks in Kasaragod to generate 400 MW.
