COIMBATORE: Gusty winds are blowing across the district. But, the windmills here do not seem to be active enough. Wind energy generation in the State has been hit for the past three or four days owing to "generation shedding" (grid drop), says K. Kasthurirangaian, Vice-Chairman of the Indian Wind Power Association.

Tamil Nadu has 2,930 MW of installed wind energy capacity and the peak windy season, which has just begun, will go on till September. The mills run to almost full capacity during this period. "The wind speed now ranges between 11 metres to 20 metres a second," he says. But, the mills are remaining idle due to the grid drop. In Tirunelvelli area, the grid drop (for the past three days) was almost for 19 hours a day while in Udumalpet, it was for 16 hours.

According to Mr. Kasthurirangaian, about 20 per cent of energy generated from windmills last year was lost due to the lack of adequate evacuation facilities. This year, even the available wind energy transmission capacity has not been utilised fully. Mr. Kasthurirangaian appealed to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board and the State Government to take up annual maintenance of the thermal stations now so that wind power generated can be absorbed fully. "Since this is the peak windy period and as wind energy cannot be wasted by keeping the turbines idle now, the entire energy can be sourced from wind farms now. Or, excess energy can be sold to States that face energy shortage in summer," he suggested.

Windmill owners have invested huge amounts and by not operating the turbines at this period, they will incur heavy losses and will not be able to pay their loan dues, he adds. Further, unlike thermal energy, it will not be possible to store wind power and it should be harnessed during the windy season. "Winds once lost are lost for ever," he said.

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