Wind energy capacity addition needs up to Rs 2 lakh crore

Chennai: The wind energy sector will require Rs 1.8 to 2 lakh crore capex to increase its capacity by 2.5 times to 25 GW by 2028.

India added a wind capacity of 3.0 GW per year between 2014 and 2018. However, the pace slowed down to 1.7 GW between 2018 and 2023 owing to lack of connected sites with high wind potential and diminished returns for developers following aggressive bidding.

Among policies and initiatives for the sector, the government has set a target to auction 50 GW of renewable projects every year, including 10 GW of standalone wind projects for reinvigorating wind capacity additions. Since the start of FY23, auctions of around 5 GW standalone wind projects have happened against 3 GW auctioned in FY21 and FY22.

Auctions of hybrid and storage-linked projects are also on the rise – up from 4 GW in FY21 and FY22 to nearly 18 GW in FY24 and FY23. Storage-linked and hybrid projects would lead to higher wind additions. Nearly 30 to 50 per cent of the projects will comprise wind energy as the demand for electricity peaks during evening and night hours, said Ankit Hakhu, director, Crisil.

To further support wind capacity additions, supply-side constraints have started to ease through an improvement in transmission connectivity and better financial health of wind OEMs.

The government is developing transmission infrastructure to improve connectivity to sites with high wind potential and plans to increase connected capacity for wind sites from 50 GW as of December 2022 to 75 GW by March 2025 and 100 GW by December 2027.

These projects will entail a cost of Rs 1.8 – 2 lakh crore, finds Crisil.