Idle ramblings of a wandering mind...

I had written before about the growing wind energy capacity in India (Link: Wind Energy Powering India). Wind energy has continued to expand at a phenomenal pace in India. In year 2006, wind energy capacity in India increased by 41.5% amounting to 1,840 MW of new capacity. India was third in the world in new capacity additions (after US and China) and fourth in the world in total installed capacity (after Germany, Spain and US). The table below shows the distribution of installed wind power capacity in the leading countries:



Fast growth in US was expected because of recent tax concessions and the large suitable area and energy demand. China's emergence as the second largest capacity addition in 2006 is more of a surprise. Till few years back China did not really cared about alternative energy. China's ability to quickly ramp up is admirable though.

Things are moving in the right direction. Wind energy is the cleanest renewable energy source available and even though it had problems of high capital cost and non-optimal load distribution, its good to see rapid growth in wind energy capacity. This is one positive impact of the rise in oil prices - the renewable energy sources are now looking more and more attracting in comparison. I will continue to follow growth in wind and other renewable energy resources.

Labels: Alternative Energy, China, India, US, Wind Power