Prospects of wind energy in India

This paper is a modest attempt to study the growth and performance of wind farms in India. India occupies the 5th place in the world in wind energy generation after Germany, the USA, Denmark and Spain, and has an installed capacity of more than 2485 MW of wind energy, comprising both commercial projects (2418 MW) and demonstration projects (65.415 MW) as of 31 March 2004. This paper discusses the progress mode, wind resource assessment, technological development, environmental benefits and economics in the area of wind energy and also the policies of wind power development in India. It also deals with the performance and Pareto analysis of the wind farm located at Muppandal (in the southern part of India), with an installed capacity of 16.525 MW. It consists of 53 Wind Electric Generators (WEGs).