Power Plant Engineering

Fig. 2.9.
State-wise Wind Power Installed Capacity in India
State
As on 31.03.2002
Gross Potential
Demonstration
Private Sector
Total
(MW)
Projects
Projects
Capacity
(MW)
(MW)
(MW)
Andhra Pradesh
2200
5.4
87.2
92.6
Gujarat
3100
17.3
149.6
166.9
Karnataka
4120
2.6
66.0
68.6
Kerala
380
2.0
—
2.0
Madhya Pradesh
3000
0.6
22.0
22.6
Maharashtra
1920
6.4
392.8
399.2
Rajasthan
1210
6.4
9.7
16.1
Tamil Nadu
900
19.4
838.1
857.5
West Bengal
180
1.1
—
1.1
Others
2990
1.6
—
1.6
Total (All India)
20000
62.8
1565.4
1628.2
2.15.5 SELECTION OF WIND MILL
Wind power plants, or wind farms or wind mill as they are sometimes called, are clusters of
wind machines used to produce electricity. A wind farm usually has hundreds of wind machines in all
shapes and sizes.

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NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY RESOURCES AND UTILISATION
65
Unlike coal or nuclear plants, public utility companies do not own most wind plants. Instead
they are owned and operated by business people who sell the electricity produced on the wind farm to
electric utilities. These private companies are known as Independent Power Producers.
Operating a wind power plant is not as simple as plunking down machines on a grassy field.
Wind plant owners must carefully plan where to locate their machines. They must consider wind avail-
ability (how much the wind blows), local weather conditions, nearness to electrical transmission lines,
and local zoning codes.
Wind plants also need a lot of land. One wind machine needs about two acres of land to call its
own. A wind power plant takes up hundreds of acres. On the plus side, farmers can grow crops around
the machines once they have been installed.
After a plant has been built, there are still maintenance costs. In some states, maintenance costs
are offset by tax breaks given to power plants that use renewable energy sources. The Public Utility
Regulatory Policies Act, or PURPA; also requires utility companies to purchase electricity from inde-
pendent power producers at rates that are fair and nondiscriminatory.