The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy has urged the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to expedite the approval and implementation of the revised policy on repowering old wind turbines.

In a report on the evaluation of wind energy in India, presented to the Lok Sabha recently, the Committee said most of the wind energy potential is concentrated in eight states and suggested retiring old, inefficient wind turbines occupying prime wind sites.

It recommended replacing the old turbines with advanced, more efficient ones to maximize natural resources and land usage.

In response, MNRE acknowledged the National Institute of Wind Energy‘s estimation of a repowering potential of 25,406 MW for wind turbines below 2 MW capacity. It recalled that a repowering policy was issued in 2016, and a revised policy has been prepared based on stakeholder feedback.

The revised policy aims to maximize energy yield per unit area and utilize state-of-the-art onshore wind turbine technologies. The final policy is pending approval.

The ministry also provided insights into the recyclability of wind turbine components and highlighted guidelines for the disposal of thermoset plastic waste.

Offshore Wind Projects

The Standing Committee acknowledged the untapped wind energy potential off the coasts of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, stressing the higher Capacity Utilization Factor of offshore projects compared to onshore ones.

Despite higher initial costs, the committee suggested that decreasing trends in offshore project costs globally and the imperative to achieve renewable energy targets make establishing offshore wind projects essential. It also proposed proper environmental impact assessments, Viability Gap Funding (VGF), and the development of associated transmission infrastructure for power evacuation.

MNRE estimated an initial phase potential of about 70 GW off the Gujarat and Tamil Nadu coasts. It referred to deploying a mesoscale wind speed map, installing LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) equipment, and preparing studies for offshore wind potential assessment.

The ministry said it had issued a ‘Strategy Paper for Offshore Wind Development,’ encompassing a bidding trajectory of 37 GW capacity by 2030. It had also submitted a concept note for an ₹156.08 billion (~$1.88 billion) VGF program for 3 GW offshore capacity for approval.

In addition, MNRE highlighted the Central Transmission Utility’s planning of transmission infrastructure for an initial 10 GW offshore capacity. It also referred to issuing draft tender documents for sea-bed lease rights allocation and ongoing stakeholder consultations.

Exploitation of Wind Energy Potential

In response to the committee’s observation about the underutilization of wind energy potential, the ministry highlighted steps to promote wind energy, including trajectory for Wind Renewable Purchase Obligation, concessions on customs duty, and policies for repowering and offshore wind development.

About issues related to aggressive bidding and developers backing out of projects, the government said guidelines and provisions for penalties and consequences in the bidding process had been issued in case of default. Provisions include the encashment of performance bank guarantee and debarring developers for not executing projects on time.

RPO Compliance

The standing committee referred to non-compliance of renewable purchase obligation (RPO) targets by several states and recommended that MNRE actively pursue state regulatory commissions for enforcing RPO compliance and penalties against defaulting entities.

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