Indian Wind Industry set to see Revival

The Indian wind industry is set to see a strong uptick in capacity increase in India, after the current government re-introduced the accelerated depreciation benefit for wind farm investments in India. The country has the world’s 4^th highest capacity of wind power in the world, with nearly 20 GW of wind energy plants. However, the last couple of years have seen anemic performance due to the removal of benefits such as AD and Generation Based incentive (GBI). But growth is coming back after these benefits were again introduced by the government.

The renewable energy ministry is also working on a National Wind Energy Mission (NWEM) on the lines of the National Solar Mission to set a holistic roadmap for the growth of wind energy in India. The government wants to strongly push for renewable energy, given the paucity of fossil fuel availability in India and the massive power deficit. Already a number of small companies are showing interest in investing in small wind farms for their captive use as well as power sales. Most of these companies have large taxable income which they can offset against the AD benefit of wind power investments. This improves the return on investment (ROI) greatly for companies leading to multiple sources of investments into the wind energy generation, besides the IPPs such as Renew Power, Greenko etc.

Economic Times

India’s sluggish wind energy market is set for a revival following the restoration of a depreciation incentive, which is expected to attract about Rs 20,000 crore of investments next year as companies across sectors add 3,000 MW of capacity powered by this renewable source of energy.

The reintroduction of accelerated depreciation (AD), which was withdrawn in 2012, is poised to support equipment manufacturers, including Suzlon Energy Ltd, the country’s largest wind turbine maker.