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Such a tariff can attract more customers through open access, incremental generation under open access route.
because their average power purchase cost today is Rs 4-5 per
unit. Total installed capacity wind power nearly tripled from 13 gw However, capex per mw will be higher for repowered units than
in 2010 to 34 gw till March 2018 and then lost pace and touched greenfield projects as developers acquiring old wind sites will
42 gw as of December 2022. But most of these entailed windmills likely pay a premium and also incur dismantling expenses of Rs
with hub height less than 100 metres, and narrower turbines of 80-100 lakh per mw.
less than 1.5 mw capacity which can generate less per unit of
capex compared with newer technologies. While generation will increase by 200-300 per cent, projects may
still need higher tariffs of at least Rs 4/unit than the recently
After 2018, wind capacity additions slowed and reached 42 gw as discovered bids of Rs 3/unit to generate double-digit returns.
of December 2022. One of the key reasons for this slowdown has
been shortage of wind sites with high generation potential leading
Commercial and industrial customers will find Rs 4/unit tariffs
to higher capital cost compared to solar projects. That meant
lucrative compared with grid tariff of Rs 7-8/unit in Gujarat and
wind projects needed higher tariffs, which discoms were chary of.
Tamil Nadu. Developers can prefer repowering over greenfield
capacity because the risks will be lower given the proven
New windmills can operate at hub heights over 150 metres and
generation track record of existing windmills.
generate more electricity using higher capacity turbines of over 3
mw. For instance, a new 3 mw windmill with a plant load factor of
The pace of adoption and success will depend on the speed at
34-36 percent can potentially generate 200 per cent more
which the policy is implemented and approvals granted by state-
electricity than a 1 mw old turbine at the same site with a plant run discoms and regulators because repowered projects will
load factor of 22-24 per cent, he said.
typically be linked to state electricity grids and will also have to
service the remaining life of their extant power
According to Varun Marwaha, an associate director at the
agency, the draft repowering policy paves the way for over 5 gw
of repowering investments, especially in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
The policy provides clarity on extending eligibility of older
machines from 1 gw to 2 gw to be repowered, on sale of
February-March 2023 / CONSTRUCTION VISION / 19