Examine the potential of wind energy in India and explain the reasons for their limited spatial spread.

Introduction

India holds the world's fourth-largest wind power capacity, with about 50 GW installed against an assessed onshore potential of roughly 695 GW at 120-metre hub height (National Institute of Wind Energy) and around 70 GW offshore off Gujarat and Tamil Nadu — a vast, largely untapped resource.

Potential and its geography

The southwest monsoon, funnelled through the Palghat gap and along the western coast, gives high wind-power density to peninsular and western India. Tamil Nadu (Muppandal), Gujarat (Kachchh), Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh together account for over 90 per cent of installed capacity.

Reasons for limited spatial spread

• Wind climatology: commercially viable speeds occur mainly in the monsoon corridors of the west and south; the Indo-Gangetic plain, eastern and northeastern India have low wind-power density.
• Site saturation and land: the best windy sites are already occupied, while land acquisition and forest and ecology clearances (notably in the Western Ghats) slow new capacity.
• Grid and variability: remote windy tracts lack evacuation infrastructure, and generation is monsoon-concentrated, straining grid balancing.
• Economics: ultra-low auction tariffs, discom payment delays and slow repowering of old low-capacity turbines have dampened investor appetite; offshore wind remains capital-intensive.

Conclusion

Wind-solar hybrid parks, the repowering policy for ageing turbines and viability-gap funding for the first 1 GW of offshore wind (2024) can carry wind energy beyond its present seven-state footprint.