Record one-year capacity increase in India

INDIA: A total of 5,400MW of new wind capacity was installed in India over the last financial year, finishing on 31 March 2017, according to the ministry of renewable energy.

by Suuhas Tenddulkar 7 April 2017

India added 5.4GW of new wind capacity over the financial year ending in March 2017

It beat the country’s previous one-year record of 3,423MW, set in 2015-16, by over 57%. Cumulative capacity across India now stands at 31,117MW.

Nearly two-fifths of the year’s new capacity was added in March alone as developers rushed to avail themselves of the generation-based incentive (GBI) benefits, which were in force until the end of the month.

Andhra Pradesh, a relatively late entrant to wind power, installed 2,190MW, followed by Gujurat with 1,275MW, and Karnataka with 882MW.

Other states adding wind power were: Madhya Pradesh (357MW), Rajasthan (288MW), Tamil Nadu (262MW), Maharashtra (118MW), Telangana (23MW), and Kerala (8MW).

Despite the expiry of the GBI scheme, installations for the current financial year are expected to exceed 5GW, considering the size of the pipeline and the additional 1GW of capacity that was awarded through auctions in March.

Another encouraging sign for wind development in India is that states such as Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh have taken concrete steps to set-up their first projects.