Repowering Old Wind Turbines Could Usher INR 40,000 Cr Investments

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) recently made the announcement it will be looking at the repowering of wind power plants that are old. Wind power plants that boast of more height have more height and efficiency hold the potential to lure in INR 40,000 crore of investments. This, in turn, could go a long way in accelerating the otherwise slow wind energy industry. At the same time, the initiative will facilitate the replacement of old wind power plants of 5 GW scale. This is especially true for the states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, which have a high number of windmills that continues to be added.

As per a CEEW report of September 2022, “wind energy projects installed before 2000 at the best wind sites predominantly have a capacity below 500 kW and a hub height of 50 m or lower. This results in maximum achievable plant load factors (PLF) of below 20 per cent. However, significant increases in capacity and PLF are achievable at higher hub heights.”

A CRISIL analysis has said the repowering of wind turbines will bring in investments worth INR 40,000 crore (including the cost of acquiring and dismantling old plants) over 3-5 years, this is almost thrice the average annual wind power capex in the last past four fiscals.