The Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association expects the current financial year to see the highest-ever wind energy capacity addition.
Chairman of the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association (IWTMA) recently stated that a record 6,000 megawatts wind energy capacity is expected to be added in financial year 2017-18 which will be 11% higher than the 5,400 megawatt capacity added in 2016-17, also a record.
The Association expects the industry to beat capacity addition target for a third consecutive financial year as the government has continued with its push and support for the renewable energy industry.
India added 3,423 megawatts wind energy capacity in 2015-16 against a target of 2,400 megawatts. In 2016-17, more than 5,400 megawatts capacity was added, beating the target of 4,000 megawatts by 35%. According to the Association, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has set a capacity addition target of 4,500 megawatts for 2017-18.
India recently conducted its first-ever wind energy auction which yielded the lowest-ever tariffs of Rs 3.46/kWh (5.2¢/kWh). Four companies – Mytrah Energy, Green Infra (owned by Sembcorp), Inox Wind and Ostro Energy were awarded 250 megawatts capacity each while Adani Green Energy secured rights to develop 50 megawatts capacity.
The Indian government is expected to launch similar auctions in the future and state governments may also adopt the route of competitive auctions to increase wind energy capacity instead of relying on feed-in tariff mechanism.
