Until recently, Tamil Nadu was regarded as India’s unrivalled leader for wind development due to exceptional local conditions and high installation rates. Today, at 7.4GW, Tamil Nadu still has more wind installed than any other state.
Since 2012, however, annual new-build rates have fallen and in 2014 just 208MW was commissioned. This is largely due to the poor financial health of state-owned distribution utility companies and occasional payment delays to power project owners. Cases of wind generation curtailment during the peak windy season have also dimmed investor enthusiasm for Tamil Nadu considerably.
The state’s total power generation capacity is 23.8GW of which renewables account for 37%, or 8.8GW. Wind represents 84% of all renewables followed by 869MW of biomass. In 2013, the state conducted a tender for 1GW of solar power delivery capacity but that received a poor response and was deemed unsuccessful.
In September 2014, Tamil Nadu issued a flat feed-in tariff of INR 7.01/kWh to solar projects without any auction provided they be commissioned by September 2015. The final commissioning deadline has since been pushed back by six months to March 2016 to give developers more time to complete their work. The state also has a net-metering policy for rooftop solar projects.