Nov 30 2010
The Center for Wind Energy Technology (CWET), which is a part of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MoNRE), has projected that the potential wind power energy in the State of Orissa is about 900 MW. A wind resource assessment program has located six different potential sites at places such as Chhatrpur, Chandipur, Gopalpur, Damanjodi, Puri and Paradip.
According to Farooq Abdulla, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, these wind projects would be established with the help of investments from the Private Sector depending on factors such as State Policies and Tariffs along with Project Viability. To showcase the technological and commercial viability of such projects, the OREDA has constructed a 2 MW wind power project (WPP) at Koraput District’s Damanjodi. The OREDA is the apex agency working under the State Government’s Department of Science and Technology. The proposal for the WPP was produced before MoNRE for approval.
The CWET in the interim had located a few more sites in Orissa for assessment of wind energy resources in Keonjhar, Ganjam and Sambalpur. A modified tariff policy has been declared by the State Government. The Union Minister in response to another question posed in the Rajya Sabha replied that the center had provided the finance for the installation of solar systems in 667 villages. The MoNRE is establishing a program named Remote Village Electrification Program (RVEP) by providing the finance for basic electricity and lighting in remote hamlets and villages which exist without electricity and which do not come under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyuti Karan Yojana (RGGVY). He mentioned that the finance is provided to only those villages that have been approved by the State Notified Implementing Agencies.