Environment & ClimatePriority2025-03-31

India Surpasses 50 GW Wind Energy Capacity

Why focus: Flagship renewable energy numeric milestone. High yield for GS3 Environment; tests wind vs solar installed capacity ranking and targets.

In News

What Happened

In March 2025, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced that India achieved a record 25 GW of renewable energy capacity addition in the financial year 2024-25. Concurrently, the country's cumulative installed wind energy capacity officially surpassed the 50 GW milestone. This surge was heavily driven by the aggressive implementation of the 'National Repowering & Life Extension Policy for Wind Power Projects 2023' alongside fresh utility-scale installations.

Why It Matters

Achieving 50 GW of wind capacity and a record 25 GW annual renewable addition proves that India is accelerating its clean energy transition at an unprecedented scale. This momentum is critical for achieving the 'Panchamrit' goal of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel electricity capacity by 2030, directly reducing dependency on imported coal, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, and securing long-term energy sovereignty.

Background

History & Context

India's journey with wind energy began in the late 1980s, primarily concentrated in wind-rich states like Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. Early installations relied on sub-MW (megawatt) capacity turbines with low hub heights. While these early movers occupied the geographical sites with the highest wind velocity, their inefficient technology left vast wind potential untapped. To optimize these prime sites, the MNRE introduced the initial 'Policy for Repowering of the Wind Power Projects' in 2016. However, it failed to gain traction due to rigid Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) rules and a lack of specific financial incentives for developers. To break this deadlock and accelerate progress toward the national target of 100 GW of wind capacity by 2030, the MNRE overhauled the framework and issued the 'National Repowering & Life Extension Policy for Wind Power Projects' in December 2023. This revised policy framework, coupled with continuous bidding trajectories by central agencies, acted as the primary catalyst for pushing India past the 50 GW mark in 2025.

What Changed

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Broadened Eligibility Criteria: BEFORE, repowering was limited by vague end-of-design-life parameters. NOW, any wind turbine below 2 MW capacity, or one that has completed 15 years since installation, or fails to comply with MNRE quality control orders, is explicitly eligible for repowering.
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Mandatory Generation Enhancement: BEFORE, there was no strict efficiency metric required for repowering. NOW, the 2023 policy strictly mandates that the annual energy generation of the repowered project must be enhanced by at least 1.5 times compared to the old setup.
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Abolition of PPA Restrictions on Surplus Power: BEFORE, developers were legally bound to supply all generated power to incumbent DISCOMs at old, unviable tariff rates. NOW, DISCOMs have no right over the additional power generated post-repowering; developers are free to sell this surplus via power exchanges or bilateral agreements.
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Dedicated Financial Incentives: BEFORE, repowering projects struggled to secure specialized financing. NOW, the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) provides an exclusive 0.25% interest rate rebate for repowering projects over and above the interest rate available to new wind projects.
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Time-Bound Implementation Framework: BEFORE, there was no dedicated oversight or strict timeline. NOW, a dedicated 'Wind Repowering Committee' must be formed to monitor implementation, and projects must be fully commissioned within 24 months from the issuance of the consent letter.

What Did NOT Change

Despite progressive repowering and capacity addition policies, spatial and ecological bottlenecks remain largely unchanged. Land acquisition hurdles, Right of Way (RoW) issues for transmission lines, and severe environmental restrictions in critical habitats—such as those of the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard in Rajasthan and Gujarat—continue to delay the micro-siting of new multi-MW turbines.

Prelims Angle

NCERT Connection

This development aligns with Class 12 Geography (India: People and Economy), Chapter 7 - 'Mineral and Energy Resources'. The chapter highlights 'Non-Conventional Energy Sources', explicitly noting India's vast potential for wind energy in coastal and desert states. The 50 GW milestone and the 2023 Repowering Policy demonstrate the real-world technological evolution of this concept: India is not just geographically expanding its wind footprint, but using modern multi-MW turbines with higher hub heights to maximize the energy yield per square kilometer on historically exploited sites.

Common Misconceptions

✗ Wind energy constitutes the largest share of India's renewable energy capacity.

✓ Solar power holds the dominant share (over 130 GW as of early 2025), while wind power is second (surpassing 50 GW).

Historically, until the late 2010s, wind was the undisputed leader in India's renewable energy mix before the National Solar Mission triggered exponential, cheaper solar growth.

✗ Repowering a wind project simply means repairing and maintaining old turbines to extend their operational life.

✓ Under the 2023 MNRE policy, 'repowering' specifically requires replacing older, lower-capacity turbines entirely with modern, highly efficient multi-MW turbines to increase actual power generation by at least 1.5 times.

People conflate 'refurbishment' (which is just replacing parts like gearboxes for life extension) with 'repowering' (which involves wholesale technological replacement of the entire turbine structure).

Practice Questions

Q1

How Many Correct

Consider the following statements regarding the 'National Repowering & Life Extension Policy for Wind Power Projects - 2023': 1. Only wind turbines that have formally completed their certified design life of 25 years are eligible for repowering under the policy. 2. The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) provides an additional interest rate rebate specifically for repowering projects compared to new wind projects. 3. Developers are legally mandated to supply all additional power generated post-repowering to the incumbent DISCOM at previously agreed tariffs. How many of the statements given above are correct?

Q2

Match the Following

Match the following entities with their specific role in India's Wind Energy ecosystem: List I A. NIWE (National Institute of Wind Energy) B. IREDA C. SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India) D. Wind Repowering Committee List II 1. Provides an additional 0.25% interest rebate for repowering projects 2. Primary central implementing agency issuing RE power procurement tenders 3. Prepares the repowering potential map of India based on sub-2 MW turbines 4. Acts as the central monitoring and advisory body for policy implementation

Q3

Assertion & Reason

Assertion (A): The 2023 National Repowering Policy places a strong emphasis on replacing early-installed wind turbines in states like Tamil Nadu and Gujarat to maximize energy yield per square kilometer. Reason (R): Early wind power projects in India occupied the highest wind-velocity sites but utilized inefficient sub-MW capacity turbines with significantly lower hub heights. Select the correct answer from the codes given below:

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