India slips to fifth position in total installed wind capacity

China moves to fourth slot on strong showing.

Our Bureau

Chennai, Feb. 4

India has slipped to the fifth position in total wind power installed capacity at the end of calendar 2008, with China overtaking it by a huge margin in terms of both new capacity and total installed capacity.

According to the Global Wind Energy Council, a global forum for the wind energy sector, India added 1,800 MW during the year taking the total installed capacity to 9,645 MW. China, in comparison, added 6,300 MW, second only to the US in new additions, taking its installed capacity at the end of the year to 12,210 MW.

The US, with 8,358 MW added during the year, has edged past Germany to become the leading country as far as wind energy installed capacity goes.

A little over 27,000 MW of new capacity came on stream last year taking the total global installed capacity to 120,791 MW. The council estimates that the global wind market for turbine installations in 2008 was worth about $ 47.5 billion.

According to the council, the massive growth in the US wind market last year increased the nation’s wind power generating capacity by 50 per cent. The new wind projects completed during the year account for a little over 40 per cent of the entire new power-producing capacity added in the US last year. “At the end of the year, however, financing for new projects and new orders for turbines and components slowed to a trickle as the financial crisis began to hit the wind sector,” the council has said in a release on its web site.

The release notes that the growth in Asia’s markets has been “breathtaking,” with close to a third of all new capacity in 2008 coming from Asia. The Chinese wind energy market is growing in strength and has once again doubled in size compared to 2007, according to the release, which says that in response to the financial crisis, the Chinese Government has identified wind energy development as a key economic growth area.

New installed capacity is expected to double in China in 2009, which will help it overtake Germany and Spain and move to the second position in terms of total installed capacity in 2010.

When contacted, Mr Sumant Sinha, Chief Operating Officer, Suzlon Energy Ltd, which is the world’s fifth largest wind turbine manufacturer and which commands more than half of the Indian wind turbine market, said the growth in India had been “steady and constant.” India ranked third in terms of new additions during 2008 and had leapfrogged over European countries in new capacity during the year. It would be difficult to see the kind of growth that China witnessed, but Mr Sinha was confident that growth in India would continue to be steady.

According to experts in the wind energy sector in India, the performance in 2008 is hardly surprising, given the problems on the ground in different States. Local issues and tariffs continue to be the main problem areas for the wind energy sector in the country, according to them.

They say that there are some positive signals, especially from the regulators in the States, but things need to move fast on the ground for the sector to benefit. A recent meeting in Chennai of electricity regulators from different States reiterated the obligation of all distribution companies to purchase a minimum 5 per cent from renewable sources. To help States with inadequate renewable energy potential, the Forum of Regulators also agreed on the concept of renewable energy certificates, which could be issued to renewable energy generators in States with good potential for green energy. The States with inadequate green power potential can purchase these certificates to meet their obligations. The forum also said that preferential tariff should be ensured to green power developers during the loan period of 10-12 years, after which the developers should be encouraged to compete among themselves.