Gujarat leads wind power capacity addition in FY21

Gujarat maintains its position as the preferred destination for installing wind power projects in India. Despite the challenges faced due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Gujarat observed the highest addition of wind power generation capacity in India in 2020-21. Wind power projects with a collective production capacity of 1,020.3 MW were introduced and enabled in Gujarat from April 2020 to March 21. That was the highest capacity addition by any state in India during the pandemic, shows data collected by the Indian Wind Turbines Manufacturers Association (IWTMA). Gujarat was succeeded by Tamil Nadu (303.7 MW) and Karnataka (148 MW). Gujarat took the lion’s share of 68% in the current wind power capacity addition over the country in 2020-21. IWTMA data reveals that nearly 1,503.3 MW of new wind power generation capacity was installed in India in fiscal 2021. Amidst these new installations, Gujarat’s current operational capacity for the generation of power from wind energy sources reaches 8,561.8 MW as against 7541.5 MW in 2019-20. At 1,468.4 MW, Gujarat produced the highest wind power capacity in the prior fiscal as well. The majority of the projects with the capacity of 700MW that developed in Gujarat during the last financial year were projects sold by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, said a market player who wanted to stay anonymous. Around 200MW capacity was added by tenders floated by state-run power utilities. Renewable energy corporations such as Adani Green and ReNew Power were among the leading players that enabled their power projects. Adani Green and ReNew Power approved 100 MW and 300 MW wind power projects in Kutch in March 2021. Yet, the state government sources secured the capacity of new wind projects approved in Gujarat at 890 MW for fiscal 2021. Currently, Gujarat holds the second position, behind Tamil Nadu in terms of the total installed wind power generation capacity in India. Image Source Also Read: Winners of SECI’s 1.2 GW wind auction in Karnataka