Climate change can hamper wind resources in India, impact renewable energy 

Climate change (global warming) could have a deleterious effect on the Indian wind energy sector by impacting wind resources, says Dr Arul Shanmugasundaram, Executive Director, Ayana Renewable Power. 

• Also read: The need to save our forests is more crucial than ever

Speaking at an Energy Transition Summit organised here by the Confederation of the Indian Industry, Shanmugasundaram said that visual data suggests that wind speeds in key regions of India are gradually declining, which could have “significant implications” for the wind energy sector. 

Each State shows unique trends in wind speed changes. For instance, Gujarat, with historically high wind speeds, remains a “strong candidate” for wind energy but might face reduced efficiency over time. 

Lower wind speeds can reduce the efficiency and output of wind turbines, making wind energy less reliable in certain regions, he said. Reduced wind speeds can affect the distribution of heat and moisture in the atmosphere, potentially altering local weather patterns. 

This cautionary note was at variance with the more optimistic note struck by JP Chalasani, Group CEO, Suzlon group, who feels that the renewable energy sector never had a better time than now.  

Delivering the keynote address at the conference, Chalasani said that unlike earlier, today the country has a pan-India grid, the demand is there from the industry and there is enough manufacturing capacity. 

While there are challenges such as land acquisition and right of way issues, sometimes the government’s policies lack consistency and the financial health of the state-owned electricity distribution companies, the renewable energy sector is now in sweet spot, he said. He stressed that government policies need to be more consistent and demand side management must be done by having differential tariffs based on demand. 

Huge investments in storage 

Delivering the special address at the conference, S Vijayanand, President, New Energy, Amara Raja Energy and Mobility Ltd, observed that two-wheelers and three-wheelers would drive battery adoption in India. “In Amara Raja’s view, the adoption rate would be 40 per cent and 75 per cent respectively, with the overall adoption rate in the automotive sector coming to 30 per cent.” 

This, Vijayanand said, would translate into a demand of 80 GWhr to 100 GWhr. Adding the stationary battery storage demand, an optimistic view of the total storage demand in India by 2030 would be between 100 GWhr and 150 GWhr. 

Vijayanand observed that a handful of major players have announced investments of about a billion dollars. These include JSW, Amara Raja, Exide, Ola Electric, Reliance and Log9. Their projects are at various stages of implementation. But by 2030, to satisfy a demand of 100-150 GWhr, about $10-12 b of investments would be needed, with another $20-25 billion in the upstream value chain, he said.