Delivering the keynote address at the Quantum Leap in Wind Power Session of the Forum, the Minister shared with the audience some new initiatives of the Government of India to accelerate the pace of wind power development which included Generation Based Incentives (GBI), expansion of the wind resource data base, technical improvements, testing, and enlargement of the user profile. Dr. Abdullah revealed that around 700 locations have been monitored for a period of 1-3 years and 233 have been identified as wind potential sites. A Wind Atlas has also been published recently to help better micro-siting leading to higher generation from wind power projects, he said. Easy financing is being facilitated through the financing arm of the ministry, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), the Minister added.

Terming renewable energy as a viable option in view of the increasing growth in energy demand, the limitations of supply, the rising cost of fossil fuel based power generation and environmental concerns, he said it has become vital for the sustainable economic development of the entire world, especially the developing countries.

“We believe that governments should be technology agnostic and encourage a diverse variety of technologies drawing upon diverse renewable sources- wind, solar, hydro, bio mass, geothermal and any new sources that appear on the horizon. However we are also acutely aware of the need for governments to ensure energy access affordably and reliably to their citizens. It is in this context that we see wind energy to be the most mature and commercially viable technology,” the Minister said.

Dr. Abdullah observed that wind is a commercially mature technology that will provide the answer to energy problems in many countries. All that is required is a commitment to increase the wind energy component in total energy mix and then design policies suited to the country to ensure rapid deployment, he said. He also emphasized the need to pool in scientific, technical, and managerial talents along with sufficient financial resources. The Minister said that desired objective will be achieved by a combination of governmental policies, regulations, innovative financing and effective integration into the grid feeding the utilities and the consumers.

Dr. Abdullah observed that the latest proposal to include wind and solar power in the Indian Electricity Grid Code (IEGC) is another positive step by the Central regulator that will integrate wind power into the grid. Presenting a wind energy market scenario in the country, the Minister said that Indian manufacturers have come of age both in terms of the size of the turbine as well as technology> he observed that as many as 16 manufacturers in India - up from only 7 in 2007 - are competing in the market. Their combined manufacturing capacity- currently around 5000 MW is expected to go up to 10000 MW in the near future. The average unit capacity that was 553 KW in 2002 now stands at 2 MW.There has been an increase in the hub heights of the wind turbines in order to harvest the wind potential more effectively. An indigenization level up to 80% has been achieved in machines. In addition, indigenously produced wind turbines and components valued at over US$ 1,000 million are likely to be exported this year. It is also true that capital costs of wind generators have gone up and this will ultimately show up in the cost of energy that will be generated. But increased efficiencies would bring down the cost of energy to some extent.

Terming the Centre for Wind Energy Technology (CWET) which is fast turning out to be an “Institution of Excellence” in the wind energy area, as a unique facility in Asia, he urged upon other countries embarking upon a wind energy growth path to utilize the services of this facility for testing, training, capacity building and research.

Calling upon the private sector to exploit this sustainable source of energy, he reiterated Government's responsibility to provide a friendly and transparent policy framework. Terming ready financing at costs lower than the cost of financing normal business, longer maturity debt and lower interest costs as the need of the day to promote wind energy in the developing world, the Minister also called upon the Asian Development Bank to co-ordinate with the local financing institutions with long term and cheaper funds.