Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB), declared that a Japanese agency has expressed interest in financing an Rs.4,000 crore project aimed at improving the wind energy evacuation experienced by the state.
Though the project when deployed will transfer all the wind generated power to the grid there are still anxieties about the immediate starting of the project due to the Tsunami crises being suffered by Japan. TNEB loses about 10% of the wind generated power due to the problems in connecting it to the grid.
The proposed project will have a separate transmission passageway for the power generated from wind. The proposed corridor will be connected to the main power plants located nearby. The power generated from the wind will be transferred to the local power plants and thereafter to other places in the state. TNEB has plans to install service stations in the wind production places such as Theni, Kayathar and Aralvaymozhi. The planned services stations located in Tirunelvelli and Theni have been built and the work at Udumalpet, Theni and other places is expected to commence soon.
Currently, the state of Tamil Nadu has an installed wind generation capacity of more than 5,000 MW but it suffers wild fluctuations in power generation such as achieving 2,000 MW or zero MW. To overcome the problem, the state has permanent arrangements with captive power plants for the purchase of power and pays for the power even if it does not buy power from them. On the days of adequate power purchase from them, the power generated from the wind energy is not bought and go unutilized thus putting the wind power generators into problem. The private wind generators are empowered to sell the power to private businesses under an open access scheme.