Tamil Nadu state has the distinction of 719 MW capacity windfarms at the end of September 1998 out of the country's total "gure of 992 MW. Andhra Pradesh has 58 MW installed windfarms in the state. 1995}96 saw a boom when 282 MW windfarms were set up in Tamil Nadu and capacity in Andhra Pradesh increased by 39 MW
Renewable sources of energy have a vital signi"cance in the context of growing concern about sustainable energy supplies and protection of the environment from adverse e!ects of fossil fuel utilisation. The current pattern of energy consumption and the growing energy requirements on account of development, economic growth, population increase, etc., are considered to be essentially unsustainable
The advantages of harnessing wind energy include:
Wind energy is available free,
The production and use of wind energy does not pollute the atmosphere,
It does not cause acid rain and contribute to the greenhouse e!ect which leads to global warming,
A windfarm irrespective of its size has a low gestation period,
The primary energy used to produce a wind turbine is recovered in about a year.
In India wind energy was "rst tapped in the 1950s for its potential to pump water for domestic use and irrigation as an alternative to diesel/electric pumpsets. Wind pumps were imported on a modest scale and installed on an experimental basis at a number of sites. A National Water-Pumping Windmill Demonstration Programme was subsequently introduced by the Government of India during the 6th (1980}85) and 7th (1986}91) plan periods and about 2800 units of the 12-PU-500 wind pumps for shallow well water pumping were installed around the country
Initiatives and Policies that led to Windfarm boom in Tamil Nadu
Good windy sites like Muppandal were available at that time,
The sites were nearer to towns for accessibility to bring labour and to provide accommodation to personnel involved in the projects,
The sites were well interlinked with highways,
Grid Network by Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) was well connected and mostly passing through the sites,
Active promotional steps by TNEB, TEDA (Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency) and local authorities
Location: Tamilnadu
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