The wind tariff order issued today by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission has made investments in the wind power sector in Tamil Nadu unviable, say industry leaders.
After a detailed calculation, the Tamilnadu Spinning Mills Association (TASMA), whose members own over 3,000 MW of wind power capacity, has concluded that the captive consumers are put to an additional expense of 95 paise per unit.
“This makes it fully unviable to invest in the wind energy sector any more,” K Venkatachalam, Chief Advisor, TASMA, has said in a note to the Association’s members.
Expressing similar views, Ramesh Kymal, Chairman, Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers’ Association (IWTMA), and Chairman and Managing Director, Gamesa India Pvt Ltd, described the order as “a retrograde step.”
He observed that while the tariff had been raised by 12 paise, the additional burden arising out of various other charges works out to about a rupee.
Recalling that the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalithaa, had envisioned creation of additional 6,000 MW of capacity in the state in the 12th Plan, Kymal said, “That is not going to happen.”
“We were hoping that we would get at least the CERC(-norms based order),” he said. CERC-norms based tariff would fetch between Rs 4.20 and Rs 4.50 a unit.