Wind Energy

Published on 07 Apr 2025

Wind energy is produced by harnessing the kinetic energy of moving air using wind turbines or mills. India ranks 4th globally after China, the US and Germany, in terms of installed wind energy capacity as of April 2023.

Advantages of Wind Energy

• Clean Energy Source: By emitting no greenhouse gases or air pollutants, wind power generation helps to mitigate climate change and improve air quality.

• Example: Horns Rev facility of North Sea has a capacity of 407 MW, enough to power 425, 000 Danish homes.

• Renewable Resource: Compared to fossil fuels, wind energy is more environmentally beneficial because it is abundant and renewable.

• Example: Muppandal Wind Farm is the largest onshore wind farm with a capacity of 1500 megawatts.

• Economic Benefits: The manufacturing, installation, maintenance, and operation of wind farms generate jobs in the wind energy sector, promoting regional and local development as well as economic progress.

• Example: Achieving Ireland’s 2050 offshore wind energy targets could be worth at least €38bn to the Irish economy, according to a new report launched at Wind Energy Ireland’s Annual Conference

• Cost-Effectiveness: Over time, wind energy has become more and more cost-competitive with conventional sources of energy, especially in areas with favorable wind conditions.

Disadvantages of Wind Energy

• Land Use and Wildlife Impact: Huge wind farms need a lot of land, which could have an effect on migratory routes, local ecosystems, and wildlife habitats.

• Example: Windmills has become a part of the Jaisalmer landscape threatening the natural habitat of the great Indian bustard along with other bird and animal species.

• Noise Pollution: Noise produced by wind turbines during operation may worry the locals, detracting from their quality of life and possibly posing health risks.

• Example: offshore wind farms have contributed to underwater noise which has negative impact in dolphins including hearing loss and change in habitat.

• Intermittency: The variability and dependence of wind energy production on wind direction and speed can result in intermittency problems.

• Grid Integration: The unpredictable nature of wind energy can make it difficult to integrate wind power into current electrical grids.

Government initiatives and policy measures

• National Offshore Wind Energy Policy: The goal is to develop offshore wind energy within the 7600 km Indian coastline's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

• National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy,2018: The goal is to establish a framework for promoting big grid-connected wind-solar PV hybrid systems to maximize and efficiently utilize wind and solar resources, transmission infrastructure, and land.

• Guidelines for Disposal of Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP): For the correct disposal of FRP, such as Sheet Moulding Compound (SMC), which is used in wind turbine blades, CPCB has released particular rules.

International initiatives

• Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC): To provide a credible and representative forum for the entire wind energy sector at an international level.

• Global Wind Atlas: It is a free, web-based application developed to help policymakers, planners, and investors identify high-wind areas for wind power generation virtually anywhere in the world, and then perform preliminary calculations.

• IEA Wind TCP: It is an international co-operation that shares information and research to advance wind energy research, development and deployment in member countries.

Way Forward

• Policy Support: Encourage the installation of wind power plants by offering financial incentives including feed-in tariffs, tax credits, and subsidies, particularly in developing nations and areas with significant wind potential.

• Community Engagement and Social Acceptance: Early involvement of local communities and stakeholders in project development can help to address concerns, promote transparency, and maximize socioeconomic advantages.

• Grid Integration and Infrastructure: Increase the size of transmission infrastructure, such as onshore and offshore grid connections, to enable the development of large-scale wind farms and to unlock wind resources in remote areas.

• Technological Innovation: Invest in modern supplies, smart grid integration, and floating offshore wind as examples of next-generation wind energy technologies.

Case study

• Ørsted's Transformation into a Global Offshore Wind Leader: It is home to the world’s largest wind, they have over 1,000 offshore wind turbines installed, which produce 6.2GW which is enough energy to power over 7 million UK homes a year.

Tags:
Environment

Keywords:
Renewable energy Wind energy Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy

Syllabus:
General Studies Paper 3

Topics:
Environment and Climate Change