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Wind power is one of the most
environment friendly means to generate electricity. The time taken to set
up a wind power project is very short compared to the time taken to set up
a conventional thermal power plant using coal or nuclear energy. A wind
farm can be set up in areas where the wind is fast enough to power a wind
turbine. If wind turbines are set up in all available locations, the
energy generated will exceed the world's power requirements Before setting up a wind turbine generator, the availability of wind - the wind speed and and direction for a ten minute average is checked. Since the winds on the sea coast are of high speed and vary in speed, wind turbine generators are usually not installed in these areas. Thermally induced winds which are generated when the land is heated by the sun are more suitable for wind power installations. The preferred wind speed for optimum power generation is around 12 m/sec (40-50 km per hour) above which the turbines have to be switched off to avoid damage . The average height of the wind turbine is 200 meters while the blades could span 80 meters. Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat have major
installations of wind turbine generators in India. Vestas, Suzlon
and Enercon are the major suppliers of wind power equipment in
India. Due to
substantial tax benefits (80% depreciation in the first year) and 10
year tax holiday, many of
the highest tax payers in the country invest their money in wind farms. In
most cases, the land is rented from farmers. The power generated is either
sold directly to industries or to the state electricity boards. As of
January 2007, the largest wind power based IPP project had a capacity of
128.80 MW and was commissioned by Enercon Wind Farms (Hindustan) Pvt.Ltd. Suzlon manufactures wind turbine generators (WTG) and also
installs turnkey wind farms in India. It manufactures WTG of capacity 0.35
MW, 0.60 MW,1.25 MW, 1.5 MW and 2.1 MW. They are designed to maximise
power factor, micro pitching control and power generation which is
compatible with grid supplies. WTGs are type certified by Germanischer
Lloyd or Centre for Wind Energy Technology, India |