India Needs To Triple Wind Energy Power By 2027: EMBER Report

India Needs to Triple Installed Capacity of Wind Power by 2027

India must triple its installed wind power capacity by 2027 to meet the projections made by the National Electricity Plan (NEP14). Though implementation of policies with state-specific targets will be crucial, the trends of wind and solar together will work in its favour – a reliable and diversified energy mix that helps India meet its renewable energy goal.

“According to NEP14, India needs to build 75 GW of new wind by 2032. Achieving this target will require ramping up y-o-y installations by 22%. For this, improving the pace of auctions and timely commissioning the project would be crucial. Announcement of 50 GW annual
bidding trajectory in 2023 was an encouraging step, however ensuring that at least 10 GW of wind is auctioned annually is the essential next step,” the EMBER report said.

The report also said that the government should also ensure that the auction process includes guaranteed and timely grid connectivity and land availability to prevent project delays. “Given that states own the land while central agencies manage auctions, coordination between the central government and states is essential. Digitising land records could help streamline the acquisition process and reduce setbacks,” the EMBER report said.

Increasing wind capacity deployment is strategically important for India’s power system planners to avoid locking-in resources into building more thermal capacity considering that meeting non-solar hour demand could become a key bottleneck in the country’s energy transition by the end of 2020s, the report said.

“Revitalising the wind sector will require a comprehensive approach. In addition to increasing new onshore capacity addition, repowering of old wind projects should be prioritised to maximise output from resource-rich sites. From a long-term perspective, continuous efforts to enable the deployment of offshore wind capacities are essential to diversity the energy mix,” the EMBER report said.