Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1997. Germany and Denmark lead Europe in the wind power. Both have
achieved phenomenal growth through guaranteed tariff based on the domes-
tic electricity prices. Germany has a 35-fold increase between 1990 and 1996.
With 2,079 MW installed capacity, Germany is now the world leader. The
former global leader, the U.S.A., has seen only a small increase during this
period, from 1,500 MW in 1990 to approximately 2,000 MW in 1997.
2.4
India
India has 9 million square kilometers land area with a population over
900 million, of which 75 percent live in agrarian rural areas. The total power
generating capacity has grown from 1,300 MW in 1950 to about 100,000 MW
in 1998 at an annual growth rate of about nine percent. At this rate, India
needs to add 10,000 MW capacity every year. The electricity network reaches
over 500,000 villages and powers 11 million agricultural water-pumping
stations. Coal is the primary source of energy. However, coal mines are
concentrated in certain areas, and transporting coal to other parts of the
country is not easy. One-third of the total electricity is used in the rural areas,
where three-fourths of the population lives. The transmission and distribu-
tion loss in the electrical network is relatively high at 25 percent. The envi-
ronment in a heavily-populated area is more of a concern in India than in
other countries. For these reasons, the distributed power system, such as
wind plants near the load centers, are of great interest to the state-owned
electricity boards. The country has adopted aggressive plans for developing
these renewables. As a result, India today has the largest growth rate of the
wind capacity and is one of the largest producers of wind energy in the
world.
In 1995, it had 565 MW of wind capacity, and some 1,800 MW
additional capacity is in various stages of planning. The government has
identified 77 sites for economically feasible wind-power generation, with a
generating capacity of 4,000 MW of grid-quality power.
It is estimated that India has about 20,000 MW of wind power potential,
out of which 1,000 MW has been installed as of 1997. With this, India now
ranks in the first five countries in the world in wind-power generation, and
provides attractive incentives to local and foreign investors. The Tata Energy
Research Institute's office in Washington, D.C., provides a link between the
investors in India and in the U.S.A.
5
2.5
Mexico
Mexico has over a decade of experience with renewable power systems. The
two federally-owned utilities provide power to 95 percent of Mexico's
