Country's grid-interactive green power capacity reaches 16817 MW

According to a recent report brought out by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy`s (MNRE) on the cumulative achievements in the new and renewable energy sectors, the grid-interactive installed generation capacity from various renewable energy sources has reached a level of 16,817.29 MW, as of the end of March 2010. The total includes 11,807.00 MW of wind power, 2,735.42 MW of small hydropower, 1,334.03 MW of bagasse-based cogeneration, 865.60 MW agro residues-based biomass power, 64.96 MW waste-based power and 10.28 MW of solar capacity.

Out of the total, around 2,330.42 MW capacity was added during the just-ended 2009-10 fiscal. Of this capacity, wind power accounted for the highest share, 1,565 MW, followed by small hydro power (305.27 MW), bagasse-based cogeneration (295.30 MW), agro residues-based biomass power (153.30 MW), solar power (8.15 MW) and waste-based power (4.72 MW).

Alongside, the cumulative off-grid/distributed renewable power generation capacity in the country was recorded at 404.56 MW, including 232.17 MW from biomass power plants, 122.14 MW from biomass gasifiers, 46.72 MW from waste-to-energy sources, 2.46 MW from solar photovoltaic power plants and 1.07 MW from aero-generators/hybrid systems. The off-grid power generation capacity addition during FY 2009-10 stood at 80.34 MW.