Chhattisgarh has wind energy potential of 77 MW at 100 meters above ground level according to the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE).
The NIWE recently launched Wind Energy Resource Map of India at 100 meter above ground level (AGl) on online Geographic Information System platform.
The wind energy potential in the country at 100 m AGl is over 302 GW, officials stated.
The wind power is being installed in the country under three different modes-- Sale to Discoms under Feed-in-Tariff mode; Captive use; and Third party sale under Independent Power Producer (IPP) mode. The Central Government is promoting all three modes of installation.
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission on August 7, 2015 has notified forecasting and scheduling regulations and also Deviation Settlement Mechanism for inter-State transmission of solar and wind energy.
Further, the Forum of Regulators has also issued model regulations on forecasting, scheduling & deviation settlement of wind & solar generators for intra-state transmission.
Notably, the Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) had already identified suitable sites in three districts of the State suitable for setting up wind power projects.
The locations are- Rajmergarh in Bilaspur district, Kameleshwarpur and Rouni in Jashpur district, Chipani and Kukdur in Kabirdham district.
The NIWE and CREDA have also jointly established a Wind Monitoring Station at a height of 50 metres in the year 2005-06 for assessment of wind resources and its characteristics at Rajmergarh village in Bilaspur district.
Accordingly, CREDA has started the process of setting up wind power projects in the three districts of the State. India ranks 4th in the world in terms of power generation.
The MNRE has proposed grid power of 175 GW from various renewable energy sources by the year 2022. This includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro power, officials stated.
The geothermal programme of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is presently in research and development stage. The cost of generation of electricity from geothermal energy is presently very high, hence, the promotion of geothermal energy production of power will not be possible in short and medium terms .
The MNRE has been carrying out a Wind Resource Assessment (WRA) Programme in the country through NIWE in association with State Nodal Agencies.
The Ministry has initiated a new scheme on implementation of Wind Resource Assessment in Uncovered / New Areas with an aim to assess the realistic potential at 100m level in 500 new stations under the National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) also to be implemented through C-WET.
As per the website of National Institute of Wind Energy, the State-wise list of Wind Monitoring Stations for which Micro Survey has been done which is as follows: Andhra Pradesh ( 11), Gujarat ( 21), Karnataka ( 15), Kerala ( 3), Madhya Pradesh ( 5), Maharashtra ( 17), Odisha ( 2), Rajasthan ( 3), Tamil Nadu (19), West Bengal (97).
On the solar energy front, significant to mention here is that Chhattisgarh achieved a total commissioned capacity of 7.1000 MW from grid connected solar PV power projects as on March 31, 2014, according to the 2013-14 annual report of Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
The total commissioned capacity of such Solar PV power projects was 4.000 MW as on March 31, 2013 in Chhattisgarh, it stated.
The grid connected power projects were commissioned under Phase-I of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) . A total of 11 projects of 50.5 MW capacity under the ‘migration scheme’ and 26 projects of 140 MW capacity under Batch-I were commissioned during the year across the country.
The JNNSM is a key initiative of the Union government and the State governments to promote ecologically sustainable growth while addressing India’s energy security challenges. The Mission is one of the several initiatives that were part of National Action Plan on Climate Change, it stated.
The JNNSM was launched on January 11, 2010 and the Mission targets included- deployment of 20,000 MW of grid connected solar power by 2022, 2000 MW of off-grid solar applications including 20 million solar lights by 2022, 20 million square metre of solar thermal collector area besides creating favourable conditions for developing solar manufacturing capability in the country and to support R&D and capacity building activities to achieve grid parity by 2022.
The Mission is to be completed in three phases, the report stated.