Punjab grants more time to Suzlon for wind assessment study

The country's leading wind turbine maker, Suzlon Energy, has been granted more time by the Punjab government for carrying out wind resource assessment study in the state for its 100-MW project which entails an outlay of Rs 500 crore.

"We have now permitted Suzlon to extend their study period till December 2009 for their upcoming wind energy project in the state," State-owned Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) Director Balour Singh said.

The decision follows the "unsatisfactory" response received in the initial study report prepared by Suzlon, which was submitted to PEDA recently. "Suzlon requested us to extend the time period for wind resource assessment study, which was carried out till December 2008, as they did not get expected response and we have agreed to it," Singh said.

"As per their (Suzlon) report, the wind speed, they have been able to generate, was three metres per second which is not enough to generate required energy," he said while giving reasons of extending the time period of the study. Unless the minimum wind speed of six to eight metres per second is attained, wind energy cannot be created," he said.

Suzlon would now raise the height of their windmill from 50 metres to 80 metres in order to get the required speed of wind for generating power. "We will now increase the height of our windmills so as to get good results," said Vinod Bishnoi, Project Incharge, Suzlon Gujrat Wind Park Limited, the wholly- owned subsidiary of Suzlon Energy.

As part of its efforts to augment energy from renewable resources, PEDA had signed a memorandum of understanding with Suzlon Energy in 2007 for the setting up of 100 MW of wind energy projects in Punjab, involving an outlay of Rs 500 crore. The wind power project of 50 MW each was proposed to be set up at Hoshiarpur and Muktsar districts of the state.

Meanwhile, five biomass-based energy projects of 47 MW, to be developed by Mumbai-based company Green Planet Energy across various districts of Punjab, have got environment clearance from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority. "These projects are expected to be completed by next year," Singh said. Punjab State Electricity Board would buy power from the company at an agreed rate, he said.

Another ambitious power project of oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), coming up in Punjab, is also expected to start functioning by December-end this year. BPCL had proposed to set up its first Solar Photovoltaic power project of one MW in the state, involving expenditure of Rs 22-25 crore.