TN to encourage offshore wind projects

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Government will encourage the establishment of offshore and near-shore wind turbines to augment power supply, according to Mr S. Machendranathan, Chairman, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.

Wind energy has helped the State meet the power demand over the last month or two with a supply of over 1,800 MW of power.

During the current year it hopes to harness over 2,500 MW of wind energy.

One issue with wind energy is that it is available only for about six-eight months.

But some coastal sites have been identified where over 10 months of power generation would be possible. The Government is looking at encouraging such offshore and near shore wind energy projects.

The State has ‘mainstreamed’ wind energy as a source of power.

Over 80 per cent of the wind energy potential has been tapped and the State is looking at ways to augment wind energy generation.