Repowering—Next big thing in India

Indian wind energy sector has seen a CAGR of more than 27% during the period 2002–2007. However, the annual capacity additions has been declining for the past 2 years and recently, India lost one place in the Global ranking on total installed wind capacity to China. While issues like unfavourable tariff, non-uniform state policies, unavailability of evacuation infrastructure, etc. can be attributed to the slower pace of capacity addition, the issue of unavailability of on-shore wind sites with sufficiently high wind velocity is expected to take centre stage in the next 2–3 years. Wind sites with low wind velocity make the investment unattractive to developers. Given the current situation, repowering as an investment option, which has already seen favourable response in countries like Germany and Denmark, would start maturing in India. This paper analyzes the present situation of the wind energy in India, evaluates the different wind energy market segments including repowering market, provides financial highlights of the repowering concept and ends with concluding remarks on major triggers which can set this concept in motion.