Independent power producer Mytrah Energy Ltd is on course to increase the total installed capacity of the company's wind farm assets to 500 MW by March next.
“From about 250 MW of capacity installed across Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, we will increase this to 400 MW over the next three to four months and this may go up past 700 to 800 mw by March 2013 if a favourable tariff structure is evolved in Andhra Pradesh,” Mr Ravi Kailas, Chairman and Chief Executive of Mytrah Energy, said.
In Andhra Pradesh, the company has an installed capacity of 60 MW of wind farms and is ready to develop another 200 MW by March next.
Of the expansion now underway, 150 MW capacity is at advanced stage.
Mr Kailas said the company has secured funding of about Rs 1,000 crore of equity and Rs 2,000-crore of debt from various lenders.
“This is adequate to see through the ongoing expansion plan,” he said.
In Andhra Pradesh, the spot purchase per unit is at over Rs 5 a unit. Therefore, it makes sense to have wind power plants considering their cost-saver advantage in the long-run.
The Central Electricity Regulatory Authority has approved a tariff of over Rs 5 per unit and States such as Maharashtra have revised twice with unit cost now at Rs 5.67.
India is adding about 3,000 MW of wind energy each year and there is potential to harness additional power from wind farms.
In Andhra Pradesh alone, there is potential to tap more than 10,000 MW, he said.