India added 275 MW wind power capacity in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022, a 30% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) increase compared to 212 MW installed in Q4 2021, bringing the cumulative wind installations in the country to 40.4 GW, according to the recent data released by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

The year-over-year (YoY) installations decreased by 56% compared to 623 MW in Q1 2021.

Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Maharashtra continued to be the primary markets for wind, accounting for 72% of the cumulative capacity.

Gujarat led the way with nearly 202 MW of wind capacity added in Q1 2022. The state makes up 23% of the cumulative capacity with 9.2 GW of installations. Karnataka added 54 MW of capacity in the quarter and was ranked third with 5.1 GW of wind installations accounting for 13% of the total market share.

Tamil Nadu, which ranks first in cumulative installations, added the remaining 20 MW capacity in Q1 2022. The state now has 9.9 GW of total installed wind capacity, accounting for 24% of the total market share.

Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Karnataka accounted for the 275 MW installed in Q1 2022. The remaining states, including Maharashtra, did not have any installations during the quarter.

Wind project auctions have seen low tariffs, compelling developers to choose states with high resource availability for the projects to be economically viable. The three leading states have locations conducive to wind power projects, leading to increased installations.

One of the factors contributing to the decline in wind installations across the country is regulatory changes. Developers are required to seek the Ministry of Defense’s approval for all wind project sites.

Even though Gujarat installed the highest wind capacity during the quarter, developers were discouraged from installing new projects due to restrictions in acquiring revenue land for central projects where the power is sold outside the state.

According to the Global Wind Energy Council’s (GWEC) Global Wind Report, 2022, the Indian wind market outlook for 2022 and 2023 is projected at 3.2 GW and 4.1 GW of onshore wind installations, respectively. The World Bank-Group ESMAP has mapped 174 GW of fixed and floating offshore wind potential off India’s coastline; the most substantial resource is found off Tamil Nadu, while a good resource is also available off Gujarat.

Previously, GWEC projected that India, which is currently the fourth-largest in terms of installed wind energy capacity, could save an extra 229 million metric tons of CO2 emissions over the lifetime of a wind farm while also creating more than a million green jobs.

Last month, NTPC Renewable Energy invited expressions of interest (EoIs) to shortlist suitable land banks and parcels to set up wind energy projects in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh.