The Indian Wind Power Association headquartered in Chennai which has 1000 members’ most of them who are investors in Wind Energy is inaugurated the three day international conference cum Exhibition called ‘WE by 2020 Hall No.12,Pragati Maidan, New Delhi 10am. Farooq Abdullah, the Minister for New and Renewable Energy inaugurated the conference. Dr.pramod Deo,chairman CERC, Dr. H.C.IR Jose Beurskens, ECN Netherlands, also participated in the Conference. About 200 delegates across the globe were present. The major wind turbine manufacturers like Suzlon, Vestas India, Enercon (India),Leitner Shriram, ReGen Powertech, Ghodawat Energy , and Gamesa are participating in the exhibition. Besides major investors in wind energy like CLP India and MSPL Ltd,RRB Energy,GE Energy,kenersys,Voith Turbo, AVN Energy, SIEMENS,ABPS Infra, Pioneer wincon, AWS True power are also participating in an exhibition here.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, said, "The wind power potential of the country has been estimated to be 48000 MW. This is a conservative estimation based on the assumption that only 1% of potential land could be used for Wind Power projects. However, with the availability of better and efficient wind turbines suitable for our moderate wind regimes and availability of increased infrastructure for power evacuation, the potential could go up. We should also initiate to reestablish our wind potential in the country so that higher capacity could be installed. We should explore possibility of low wind regime areas also with improved technology and lower cost. ".
He also said "The vision of the Ministry is to enable India to be a global leader in renewable energy, particularly in wind sector. I am confident that this conference will come with a road map and specific recommendations for the growth of the sector from the present level of three percent of the grid connected power. I am not sure whether we could achieve 20% energy share from Wind in a short interval of 10 year but the target is laudable. We should always have stretched targets and try to reach them. Whatever suppor, various stakeholders in the sector are looking at from the Ministry will be considered on merits."
Mr Kastoorirangaian, Chairman of the Association welcomed the gathering and said "The activities of the Association are aimed at increasing the growth of the wind energy. Wind Energy 20 by 2020, the International Conference on Wind Energy at New Delhi on 15th 16 & 17th February, 2011 is a manifestation of IWPA’s ambition and a private sector initiative to take India on big growth path – a thinking in line with that of NAPCC – National action plan on climate change of our Prime Minister". He stated that IWPA is twice as big as European Wind Energy Association of 500 Members. He further stated that because IWPA is closely working with State utilities, Regulatory commissions, Nodal Agencies, State advisory committees task forces, Centre for Wind Energy Technology and the like , its activities are highly representative, region and country oriented, visionary and in the overall interest of the entire spectrum of members, the wind sector and the country in general.
India today is facing shortage of power. Power is a crucial input for the growth of the country. WE have been mainly depending on coal for generating power. The avialbility of coal is limited and if we import coal it adds to the foreign exchange risk and the outflow of resources from the country. Further, burning coal for producing electricity, releases gases which are harmful to the health. In order to conserve coal as well as to make our earth a better place to live, we need to tap renewable energy sources like sun, wind, etc. Among the renewable energy sources, the wind power technology has been tested successfully and has been established as commercially viable.
Out of a total installed capacity of 15691.43 MW of grid interactive renewable power, wind accounts for 10,925 MW (70%). However, in terms of energy fed into the grid, the wind power sector today is a marginal player accounting for only 3% of the total power fed into the grid. With the increasing awareness of the ill effects of global warming, we need to do something fast if we have to save our environment. Hence the theme of the conference is to make the wind power from a marginal player to core player by increasing the share of wind energy from the present level of 3% to 20% by the year 2020. The Conference aims at finding a road map for achieving this. The details of the sessions are in the attachment.
The Indian Wind Power Association is the largest Association of various stake holders in the wind power industry. The total membership strength of the Association is about 1000 and nearly 950 members are investors in wind energy. The investor member strength of the association is almost double of the membership strength of the European Wind Energy Association. Europe is considered to be number one in the world in terms of installed capacity of wind power.
This is a pan India Association and its members spread over ten states in the country which have wind potential. The National Office of the Association is at Chennai and has a regional office at Delhi. The Association also has its State Councils at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Jaipur. It will shortly be opening its State Council at Mumbai also. The main objective of the Association is to promote wind energy in the country. India today is the fifth largest in the world in terms of wind power installed capacity. As a part of its activity, the Association has been conducting a number of State level seminars and training classes. This is the first time the Association has organized an International Conference and at Delhi to show case to the world what India can offer to them for investments in the wind energy sector.
