Gujarat again tops new wind power capacity.

Gujarat continues to be the preferred destination for setting up wind power projects in India. Despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, Gujarat witnessed the highest addition of wind power generation capacity in the country in 2020-21.

Wind power projects with the cumulative generation capacity of 1,020.3MW were installed and commissioned in Gujarat from April 2020 to March 21. That was the highest capacity addition by any state in India during the period, shows data compiled by Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association (IWTMA).

Gujarat was followed by Tamil Nadu (303.7MW) and Karnataka (148MW). In fact, Gujarat grabbed the lion’s share of 68% in the new wind power capacity addition across the country in 2020-21. About 1,503.3MW of new wind power generation capacity was installed in India in fiscal 2021, IWTMA data shows.

With these new installations, Gujarat’s current operational capacity for generation of power from wind energy sources stands at 8,561.8MW as against 7541.5MW in 2019-20. At 1,468.4MW, Gujarat created the highest wind power capacity in the previous fiscal as well.

“The majority of the projects - with the capacity of 700MW - that came up in Gujarat during the last financial year were projects auctioned by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) before the outbreak of the pandemic,” said a market player, who wished to remain anonymous. “About 200MW capacity was added via tenders floated by state-run power utilities.”

Renewable energy companies such as Adani Green and ReNew Power were among the prominent players that commissioned their power projects. Adani Green and ReNew Power commissioned 100MW and 300MW wind power projects in Kutch in March 2021.

The state government sources, however, pegged the capacity of new wind projects commissioned in Gujarat at 890MW for the fiscal 2021.

Gujarat currently stands second after Tamil Nadu in terms of the total installed wind power generation capacity in the country.

TOI