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dam-l LS: India's Wind Potential 45,000MW

INDIA PLACES ITS WIND ENERGY POTENTIAL AT 45,000MW,
MAPS BEST SITES
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The Indian government has evaluated the country's wind energy potential at
45.000 MW and identified 177 sites for wind energy development, reports The
Hindu, of New Delhi.

At the dedication of the Center for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET) in
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India's Union Minister of State for Non-Conventional
Energy Sources, M. Kannappan, announced that the government has completed a
wind resource assessment for the country.  The assessment initially placed
the country's wind power potential at about 20,000 MW, but the final tally
was 45,000 MW, according to the paper.

"The next century belongs to renewables," said Kannappan in a statement
that stressed the need to diversify the country's sources of energy.  The
Ministry is preparing a policy statement that could include a goal of
generating an additional 15,000 MW from non-conventional sources by 2012,
reports the paper. That goal represents an increase to 8% from the present
1.5 % of renewable energy in the country's electricity mix.

"India is considered a top wind energy market," said Jorge Ayarza, AWEA
International Technical Specialist.  "That nation is closing the decade
with an estimated 1077 MW of wind energy generating capacity.  The new
center, along with improvements in the electricity grid and the right
economic incentives, will help the country to tap its wind energy potential
and power its growing economy with clean electricity."

Also speaking at the dedication, N. Veerasamy, Tamil Nadu Minister for
Electricity, noted that Tamil Nadu accounts for 70 % of the wind power
generation in the country.  Thirty-nine of the sites identified by the
study are in Tamil Nadu, reports The Hindu.

The C-WET and its Wind Turbine Test Station are expected to provide support
to the wind energy industry in the areas of research and development, wind
resource assessment, development of standards and certifying procedures,
testing, performance evaluation, and information dissemination, according
to the paper.