BusinessLine Report on the Challenges of Utilizing the Full Potential of Wind Power in TN

There was an excellent article published in BusinessLine dated June 23rd, 2014 on the challenges faced by the grid managers in Tamil Nadu in accommodating the whole of the energy generated by wind power producers.

Inquiring minds may wish to read the article in full.

Handling wind power: TN faces many a challenge

Some important quotes:

Even now, 4-5 hours of wind power generation is not being taken, despite there being sufficient transmission infrastructure, says PP Gupta, Managing Director of Techno Electric, whose subsidiary, Simran Wind Project, owns 190 MW of capacity in the state.

You can handle infirm wind if you have sufficient ‘peaking capacity’, or power plants that can very quickly ramp up generation when required. Fortunately, Tamil Nadu has four such power plants – Basin Bridge (196 MW), Samalpatti (100 MW), Madurai Power (100 MW) and Pillaiperumal Nallur (330 MW).

These capacities can quickly come online. For instance, the GMR-owned Basin Bridge power plant can ramp up from zero to 20 MW at the rate of 2 MW a minute, and from 20 MW to 50 MW at one MW a minute. 

 Finally the article concludes with:

In the absence of peaking capacities, the wind power capacity in the state will continue to be under utilised, experts note.

Our previous post on wind energy must be read in the context of this report - that the wind energy generation capacity in TN is persistently underutilized because of grid management concerns .