TUTICORIN: VO Chidambaranar Port Trust plans to install a wind farm at the port facility to generate 50-100 MW of electricity. This is part of the Port’s Green Energy Initiative to meet the United Port Ministry’s Green Port Policy Framework.
Port Trust has appointed the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) as a project consultant to produce a detailed project report for developing a wind farm in four months. We are also calling for a statement of interest in establishing a wind farm.
The first onshore and offshore projects will be featured in the future. Installation of a 1 MW wind farm typically costs around Rs 600 million, according to port trust sources.
Among the major ports, Kandra produces 20.7 MW of electricity from two wind farms. Three turbines produce 6 MW near Rajkot and seven turbines produce 14.7 MW near Jam Nagar. India’s Solar Energy Corporation, a subsidiary of the United New Renewable Energy Ministry, has placed a rate-based bid from wind developers to launch a wind project. One of the 400/230 KV power supply points specified in the bid is Thoothukudi.
Wind monitoring research
A year ago, VOC Port Trust commissioned NIWE to conduct wind monitoring surveys in port areas. NIWE has installed a 100m grid mast with wind monitoring equipment, including interconnections between the data logger and the NIWE server in the port estate. Over the past year, we have collected wind data, processed raw data and simulated the wind potential of port areas.
Analysis revealed that the port area has sufficient wind power potential to develop wind farms in the area. The average wind speed and wind density values under investigation were 6.65 m / s and 256.86 W / m 2, respectively.
