Acciona opens 56-MW Tuppandahalli wind farm in India

Located in Karnataka state, the 56 MW Tuppadahalli wind farm will produce electric power equivalent to the consumption of 35,000 Indian homes. With 85.8 MW in operation, the company is the biggest Spanish wind power operator in the country.

Acciona Energy yesterday inaugurated the Tuppadahalli wind park, its third installation of this type in India and the biggest in terms of installed capacity. With a nominal capacity of 56.1 MW, every year it will produce electricity of renewable origin equivalent to the consumption of around 35,000 Indian homes.

The inauguration ceremony for Tuppadahalli was attended by ACCIONA Vice-president Juan Ignacio Entrecanales, ACCIONA Energy President Carmen Becerril and the Managing Director of Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd., Prasanna Kumar. The three wind farms the company owns in India are located in the state of Karnataka, with a total installed capacity of 85.8 MW.

The Tuppadahalli wind farm has thirty-four 1.65 MW wind turbines which, through wind power, will avoid the emission of around 129,000 metric tons of CO2 a year to the atmosphere from conventional power plants in the state. The electricity generated is purchased by the state-owned distribution company MESCOM.

All ACCIONA’s wind parks in India are wholly owned by the company. The new facility joins the wind parks of Arasinagundi (13.2 MW), installed in 2007, and Anabaru (16.5 MW), which entered service in 2008.

ACCIONA has a number of projects at an advanced stage of development, with the aim of consolidating its position as the leading Spanish wind power operator in India.
Optimized production

ACCIONA’s wind parks in India have achieved a high load factor which optimizes the generation of energy and the profitability obtained from production.

ACCIONA has included its three operational wind parks in India under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) envisaged in the Kyoto Protocol against Climate Change, which guarantees the economic viability of projects through the trading of emission rights derived from renewable generation.

India is currently the fifth biggest wind power market in the world, with an accumulated capacity of 16,084 MW at the end of 2011. It offers great prospects for the future and is expected to reach 35,000 MW in 2015, according to BTM Consult. The Indian Government has set an objective of 82,000 MW from wind power by 2022 within the framework of its policy to promote renewables in the country.

Wind power in India

1997: 940 MW
1998: 992 MW (+5.6 %)
1999: 1,035 MW (+4.4 %)
2000: 1,267 MW (+22.5 %)
2001: 1,507 MW (+19 %)
2002: 1,702 MW (+13 %)
2003: 2,110 MW (+24 %)
2004: 3,000 MW (+42.2 %)
2005: 4,430 MW (+47.7 %)
2006: 6,270 MW (+41.6 %)
2007: 7,850 MW (+25.2 %)
2008: 9,587 MW (+22.2 %)
2009: 10,926 MW (+14 %)
2010: 13,065 MW (+19.6 %)
2011: 15,800 MW (+21 %)

By José Santamarta, www.acciona-energia.com