A team of young researchers in Chennai has come across a “goldmine” along the Indian coast which will certainly excite the country’s energy policy planners.
“The Indian coast, which extends up to 12 nautical miles from the shore, has the potential to generate 74,000 MW clean and green energy round-the-year. All we need is to set up wind turbines in our territorial waters along the country’s coast,” Prof Ramachandran Ramesh (55), director, National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management under the Ministry of Environment and forests, Government of India, told The Pioneer.
A detailed discussion with Ramesh, a double Ph D in environment science and marine science, proves that the 74,000 MW clean and green energy is just the tip of the ice berg. Being a scientist, he is conservative and stingy with figures. “If we could set up wind masts in regions beyond 12 nautical miles which are close to the sub-continent, I am sure we can tap another 4,21,000 MW of clean and green energy,” said Ramesh.
These are findings of a year-long study conducted by Ramesh, his deputy Poorvaja Ramachandran and their team of young scholars which include ocean engineers, mechanical and electrical engineers.
Subba Reddy Bonthu, a IIT-Kharagpur research scientist in ocean engineering and naval architecture and working with Ramesh and Poorvaja, studied the wind data from the sub continent collected for the year 2012. “There are eight categories of wind speed available in Indian shores. We estimated the potential of wind energy available from each category of wind speed along the Indian shore line. That’s how we reached the figures of 74,000 MW and 4,21,000 MW,” explained Subba Reddy Bonthu.
While Bonthu operated from the small but cosy computational room of NCSCM in Anna University Campus, his colleagues like Sathiya Bhama, Rajaram, Sathish Kumar, Ramya, and Sundara Manikantan ensured that the setting up of wind masts in off-sore region would no way affect the maritime routes used by ships, the livelihood of the fishermen in the region , the fragile ecological hotspots in Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal and even the routes used by migratory birds which fly into India from all over the globe.
“If we set up wind masts within the 12 nautical miles and other spots suggested by us, India will be able to harness 4,95,000 MW of wind energy,” said Ramesh. The masts should be set up at points which are 25 km to 30 km distance from the shore, pointed out Ramesh.
Union Minister for environment and forests Prakash Javadekar, who visited the NCSCM laboratory last month, went back a happy man. If engineers are able to harness and exploit even half the wind energy potential offered by India’s sea shore, the country’s energy security could be fortified without any outside support.
“The report is ready and we have proved beyond doubt the feasibility of wind energy which could be harnessed,” said Poorvaja. But oceanographers are yet to be fully convinced. “This is based on computational studies and need not be the last word. To assess the quality and quantity of wind energy, one has to set up mast and wind turbines and study the pattern of speed. Then only we can say with authority about the full potential of off shore wind energy,” said M A Atmanand, director, National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai.
What adds to the fire power of NCSCM findings is the research result by Rajendra Kharul, a wind energy specialist from Pune. Kharul, who heads the Centre for Wind Power at the World Institute of Sustainable Energy (WISE) has found that Tamil Nadu coast alone can provide 127 GW (1,27,000 MW) wind energy per year to India’s energy kitty.
The NCSCM and WISE reports come at a time when the country’s total energy production is 2,49, 488 MW (June 2014) from coal, hydro, wind, solar, hydrocarbons and nuclear.. There are also allegations that there are no takers for wind power generated in Tamil Nadu.