Tamil Nadu aims to develop 15,000 MW renewable power capacity: Power Minister

The new Government in Tamil Nadu under Chief Minister Vijay is looking to enhance the Southern Indian state’s installed capacity of renewable power by about 10,000 to 15,000 Megawatts (MW) in the coming years, outlined the State’s Power Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar. This envisioned scale-up in installed capacity is expected to come from solar and wind power facilities that are connected with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), he added. The Minister was speaking at the 25th Edition of ‘Green Power Expo’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The majority of the wind and solar power projects in Tamil Nadu are owned by the private sector, which highlights the industry’s role in ramping up the state’s capacity. With a long coastline, suitable wind speeds and 300 sunny days in a year, Tamil Nadu is widely seen as having immense potential for enhancing wind and solar projects.

At present, Tamil Nadu has around 45,000 MW of total installed capacity, of which the State government’s share is around 7000 MW, Central government’s share is around 7,000 MW, and the private sector’s share is over 31,000 MW. While the state’s installed capacity is 45,000 MW, the power generated from this is only about 17,000 MW. This is because almost 24,000 MW of the installed 45,000 MW comes from solar and wind energy, both of which are prone to fluctuation in power generation. Solar power generation takes place only during the peak daylight hours, while wind power generation varies by season. During summers, Tamil Nadu consumes about 22,700 MW of power, while the winter consumption is around 15,000 MW. When there is a shortfall in production and rise in power demand, purchased power fills the gap.

Highlighting the need for cheaper power for industrial consumption in Tamil Nadu, Ravichandran Purushothaman, Chairman, CII Southern Region mentioned that a unit of electricity costs Rs. 7.8 in Tamil Nadu, while it costs an equivalent of Rs. 5.2 in Vietnam, and an equivalent of Rs. 2.8 in China. Referring to this wide gap in power costs, he said that when industries from Tamil Nadu try to sell their goods in Europe and other foreign markets, they are unable to remain competitive as they pay higher power costs when compared to their peers in manufacturing hubs of China and Vietnam. He emphasised that further expanding wind energy and solar energy projects in the state could certainly lower the power costs and benefit industries.

Meanwhile, he cautioned that precious renewable power would go waste if power grids and distribution infrastructure do not expand rapidly to match the speed at which windmills and solar farms are installed. While renewable power projects can be setup relatively quickly, setting up the supporting infrastructure takes far longer. Citing an example from Rajasthan this March, he stated that Rajasthan had the highest amount of installed solar power capacity in India, but the massive amounts of power generated from those projects could not be utilised because adequate infrastructure to store or transmit such quantities of power did not exist. In simple terms, it is like a reservoir having a lot of water, but that water is not able to reach the users because the pipes carrying it were too small. This also shows the need for an inter-state grid network where excess power generated in one state or region can be transmitted to another region that is in need.

Suggesting ideas to increase the renewable power generation in Tamil Nadu, Ravichandran said that all the three-decades-old windmills of 0.25 MW capacity in Muppandal Wind farm in Kanyakumari, could be replaced with larger and advanced windmills that can produce 2.8 MW each. He said that this replacement alone could help multiply the installed wind generation capacity from the site by five to six times. He added that this project to replace the old windmills with new ones would be entirely undertaken by the private sector, and that government investment would not be needed for setting up windmills. Instead, he urged the Government to invest in enhancing the power grid and the distribution infrastructure.