Tamil Nadu overtakes Karnataka to become No 1 in renewable energy

Tamil Nadu has overtaken Karnataka to become India's top renewable power generating state in FY20 (till October).

Of the total renewable power generation in the country, nearly 17.2 per cent was from Tamil Nadu. According to Central Electricity Authority (CEA) data in 2019-20 (upto October) 85,774.92 million units (MU) of power was generated through renewable energy, of which 14,771.69 MU was generated by Tamil Nadu followed by Karnataka (14,730.08 MU), Gujarat (10,505.54), Andhra Pradesh (9,638.70), Maharashtra (8,942.55) and Telangana (3794.99 ).

Wind was the major source of renewable energy in the state. Of the total generation, 11,614.85 MU came from wind, followed by 2,733.37 MU from solar and rest are from other sources.

Tamil Nadu's wind energy capacity is 8,480 MW, which is 24 per cent of the country's total wind generation capacity.

State is aiming to achieve 9,000 megawatt (MW) of solar power by 2023, as part of which a new Solar Policy had come into effect in 2019. At present, the total solar capacity is above 3,000 MW.

The policies and incentives offered by the government - bundling of wind power projects, accelerated depreciation, a Technology Upgradation Fund etc - have driven the state's power-intensive industries to invest in captive wind power plants, says industry representatives.

Wind generation peaks during the southwest and northeast monsoon months, followed by below average generation for the remaining months. The state introduced banking of energy, which allows the cooperatives to supply to the grid when there is excess generation, in exchange for free supply during low generation periods.