India seizes the power of wind energy

Adelaide Advertiser
29/09/2007 Page: 70

THE wind farm is visible from kilometres away, a forest of looming turbines churning in the afternoon breeze, rising incongruously above fields of barley, corn and sunflowers. "This is the only future for the long-term," says Tulsi Tanti, 49, a one-time yarn manufacturer who turned a small wind energy sideline into the sprawling corporation Suzlon, and turned himself into a billionaire in the process.

If wind energy has a reputation of being on the fringes - an expensive technology that has more to do with environmentalist dreams than electricity production - India is also proving it to be a viable energy source, even in the developing world. India has the fourth-highest installed capacity for wind energy in the world, behind Germany, Spain and the U.S., according to the Global Wind Energy Council.

Wind, like solar and other renewable energy sources, still faces major hurdles. In India, it costs a wind farm about 8c to produce a kilowatt-hour of electricity - about 50 per cent more than coal, according to the New Delhi-based Energy and Resources Institute. As in most countries, wind energy is supported by tax breaks and subsidies that make it competitive.

Even Mr Tanti says wind isn't going to replace coal - which supplies about 65 per cent of India's electricity - anytime soon. But the cost of wind has dropped dramatically in the past decade, in some cases by more than half, and is expected to drop further as the technology advances. And coal could become more expensive if global warming forces countries to adopt costly methods to reduce the pollution it generates. About 2 per cent of India's power comes from wind but, as costs drop, that could reach 12 per cent, experts say.

Mahesh Vipradas, from the Energy and Resources Institute said: "It's a serious energy source, as far as India is concerned." One thing is certain: India needs more energy. With 1.1 billion people and an economy growing at close to 9 per cent per year, the country is fast becoming one of the world's largest energy consumers.

Experts estimate the country has 10-12 per cent less power than it needs. Blackouts are common, even in the largest cities, and hot nights can find millions of people sleeping outside because their fans and air conditioning won't go on. The Indian Government has pushed the wind business with tax breaks on windmills, which can cost upwards of $1.35 million each, and mandates that states get a percentage of their electricity from renewable sources.