Wind Energy
The existing Micro Siting Criteria Guidelines for onshore wind power projects have been revised, and new guidelines have been released by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). As such, these updated guidelines will come into effect immediately. Their objective is to increase energy output, support repowering, and allow for intercropping too, using marginal land in a manner that doesn’t unduly restrict turbine siting.
Changes in Micrositing Criteria
Outlined in the new guidelines, specific changes have also been brought into effect based on revised micro siting criteria with more defined wind turbine placement and spacing. The goal is to boost the energy yield of wind farms by employing innovative wind flow modeling and optimization methods. The updates also account for the IEC 61400-1 international standard on wind turbine safety requirements in various environmental scenarios.
Turbine Placement and Spacing Rules
Under the updated criteria, there are minimum spacing requirements for developers to meet, as listed below.
Spaced in Direction of Travel: From one turbine to the next, at a minimum fall of five times the rotor diameter (5D).
Perpendicular Spaced: In general, seven times the rotor diameter (7D) comes from the biggest-involved wind turbine rotor diameter.
These rules are in place to keep wind turbines deployed and operational in safe, reliable conditions with as little potential wake losses and turbine-to-turbine turbulence as possible to maximize annual energy production.
Safety and noise policies
Eleven. Noise Regulations: Typically, 500 meters away from the centroid of the population nearest to the wind power project is applicable. This shall be concerning a residential cluster having at least 15 houses.
The government can adopt these regulations to secure both the enjoyment and functional efficiency of wind power plants by the public while protecting public safety.
Repowering and value-added options
One of the key elements of the new guidelines is their support for repowering as well as the introduction of intercropping.
• Repowering: decommissioning, rebuilding, or retrofitting older turbines to increase their efficiency. Wind farm re-powering is a process where older turbines are replaced with more upgraded ones, usually in open areas. This will help to reduce the number of turbines that would otherwise be needed on a site, opening up more space for other renewable energy projects.
• Intercropping: crops are grown in between turbine towers on large land-based wind farms, promoting dual use of the land. Such an approach is especially beneficial in ensuring maximum land utilization and helping maintain efficient land management over the long run.
Impact on Stakeholders
The implementation of updated guidelines will have a significant impact on the entire renewable energy sector in India. Stakeholders, including developers, operators, and investors, expect rising energy production and higher project feasibility because of efficient placements for turbines and the potential for repowering. These changes are anticipated to help India realize its renewable energy targets through a combination of new turbine deployments as well as projects replacing older installations.
The Role of Government in Renewable Energy Growth
The Indian government is actively promoting renewable energy. India’s MNRE has released a policy for onshore wind power projects that contributes to improving the performance of wind farms due to its commitment to developing environmentally clean and reliable wind power generation sustainably. In support of its commitment to improving power quality and safety, the government also aims to create a favorable climate for the evolution of the IPP model by international standards, including decommissioning, SC foundations, etc.
Conclusion
Revisions to the RfS and other related documents have resulted in an evolving regulatory framework. Therefore, having supplied electricity at 2.93 per unit (all-inclusive) to SECI for 25 years, the project will also have socio-economic benefits for the local population in terms of periodic land lease income over the usefulness of the project, local entrepreneurship, skilled jobs in granular sectors, long-term operations residual value, etc.
The purpose for delivery of electricity from these projects to consumers through the inter-state network at a maximum of seven dispatchable points is considered to be some of the cheapest sources of green power based on wind energy and also the national low-cost source of power post-import duty era. So now the explicit regime on submission of this interest as well as the implementation of the contracts gives quite a solid base and mid-term visibility for investments predicated, potentially, on many more or little more projects, which will be considered in consideration of local peculiarities and competition conditions, attendance, and dispatch orders.
The Government of India (GoI) is expected to conduct India’s first federal auction for offshore wind energy zones. The above provisions are proposed to be supplemented with a floating framework after discussions with other ministries, such as the Ministry of Surface Transport, the Shipping Ministry, etc.