The Indian coast is a gold mine of clean and green offshore wind energy, says a latest study by scientists of the Union Government’s Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad. The southern coast of Tamil Nadu and the Maharashtra-Gujarat coasts could be India’s major power houses, according to these scientists.
The southern coast off Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu has high wind power density. “We found that the area has six meters per sec wind for more than 300 days in a year. For 200 days in a year, the area has wind blowing at a speed of eight meters per second,” Dr Balakrishnan Nair, senior scientist and Head ISG, INCOIS, told The Pioneer.
The team of researchers Dr R Harikumar, Dr Balakrishnan Nair, Dr SSC Shenoi and l Sabique analysing 10 years of offshore wind data also found that the Maharashtra-Gujarat coast has six meters per second wind for 300 days in a year.
“If we could install wind turbines of 80 meter rotor diameter at a distance up to 25 km from the southern Tamil Nadu coast, each turbine has the potential to generate 4.6 GWh (4600 MWh) per year. This area has high wind power density for more than 300 days in a year,” said Dr Nair. He said an offshore wind farm in this region with 100 turbines could generate 4,60,000 MW power during these windy days. Dhanushkodi is known for its windy coast and beaches.
But what stands out in the “offshore wind farm advisory module” developed by these oceanographers which will help prospective wind power generators in the country in micro-planning for wind farm site selection and also to sharply forecast availability of wind seven days in advance.
“This was done in association with National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast, New Delhi. We also carried out studies with the data provided by a sea wind sensor on board QuickSCAT, a NASA satellite and also by moored water buoys installed along the Indian coast,” said Harikumar.
The innovation by the INCOIS scientists has come as a shot in the arm for the wind energy industry. “This is exciting information. Till now we were dependent on the 24 hour forecasts issued by the National Institute of Wind Energy. The achievement by the INCOIS scientists will electrify the wind energy sector,” said Madhusudan Khemka, managing director, ReGen Power Tech, a leading wind power company with operations in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.
Interestingly, the findings of INCOIS scientists come at a time when the scientists of National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, under the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, has found that offshore regions along the Indian coasts has a total capacity to generate 4,21,000 MW power.
The Journal of Applied Energy, an internationally respected scientific journal will soon come out with the research paper entitled “Assessment of Wind Energy Potential Along the Indian Coast using satellite, Model and in-situ data for offshore Wind Farm Advisories” authored by these scientists.