For the first time, Tamil Nadu met nearly half of its power demand on Sunday afternoon with generation from renewable sources, including windmills and solar plants.
Representative image
Chennai:
At 11 am on Sunday, the State’s power demand stood at 12,104 megawatt with the windmills and solar plants contributing a total of 5,885 megawatt accounting for 48 per cent of the total demand. The windmills contributed with the generation of 3,914 MW while solar plants produced 1,917 MW.
“Renewable sources generating 48 per cent of the state’s demand is a very significant milestone. With the revival the south-west monsoon and commencement of Aadi, wind power generation has peaked in TN. It is an all-time high contribution of the renewable sources to the state’s grid,” said Indian Wind Power Association chairperson Prof K Kasturirangan.
He said the new record was set even though Tangedco continues to slack in installing windmills. “We have urged Tangedco to swap excess wind power with Karnataka and Kerala for the hydropower,” he said.
A senior Tantransco official said that with the revival of the south-west monsoon, the wind power generation has picked up. “Between 11 am to 3 pm, the combined generation of windmills and solar plants would vary from 4500 MW to 5500 MW. With the power demand in the state coming down to 11,500-12,500 MW, contribution of the renewable power to the state’s grid has been touching 40 to 45 per cent. On Sunday, the renewable contribution touched 48 per cent,” the official said. The state has an installed wind power capacity of 8,468 mw while the solar capacity is 2,725 mw. The state’s conventional energy sources installed capacity stood at 18,299 mw.
Alternative Success
State’s power demand at 11 am on July 21
- Total demand 12,104 MW
- Wind generation 3914 MW
- Solar generation 1971 MW