As the wind power season begins in Tamil Nadu, the state generated 92 million units of both wind and solar power on May 15, out of which, nearly 72 million units were from wind alone.
Tamil Nadu has a total wind power capacity of 8,500 MW, which is the largest in the country.
“We had forecast on the availability of wind power on Monday evening. But we were surprised to evacuate not less than 4,000 MW at the evening peak. Generally, we used to generate thermal power in the evening but on Monday we put a majority of our thermal units on standby as wind generation was good,” said Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) chairman Rajesh Lakhani.
As the summer heat is on the high, the demand for power is also around 16,000 MW during the evening peak. “During daytime, many households are using air conditioners to beat the heat, and due to this the power demand is high. In May, most of the educational institutions remain closed, and, due to this, the demand has not crossed 16,000 MW. Otherwise, we would have had another record demand,” said Lakhani.
Tamil Nadu is the only state in the country to keep thermal units on the standby during summer when the power demand peaks. “The forecast for wind power is not good for today and Thursday during which we expect less than 20 million units of wind power to be generated. But from Friday, the forecast is above 28 million units, and on May 23 we expect the wind power generation to be 34.25 million units,” he said.
The forecast for wind power will be available for one week, and it is not possible to forecast beyond a week.
Solar power generation is also good with the day temperature crossing 40 degrees Celsius. “Solar power generation starts from 6 am during summer and peaks at around 2 pm. After this, solar generation declines and stops completely around 4.30 pm. Mostly, at this time, wind power generation begins and goes on till early morning,” said Lakhani.
As and when the wind power generation picks up, Tangedco will be selling the renewable power to other states, which need to fulfill the renewable power obligation (RPO). “This year, Goa, Uttarakhand and a few other states have asked for wind power. We will be selling renewable power through a green grid which carries only wind, solar and nuclear power,” said the chairman.
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