Andipatti Wind Power Project Located in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, this 49.5 MW wind power project delivers zero-emissions renewable electricity to the Southern regional grid. The project is validated and verified to the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) (and also registered with the CDM). The project and emission reductions The region This wind farm consists of 30 Vestas turbines, each of capacity India in general suffers from severe shortages of electricity of 1.65 MW, generating approximately 100,000 MWh of clean generation capacity with nearly 40% of residences in renewable electricity annually. This reduces CO2 emissions by the country without electricity, and per capita electricity displacing electricity which would have otherwise been drawn use is under 500 kWh per year (154th in the world and primarily from fossil fuel power stations; subsequently, the compares to nearly 12,000 kWh for the US); blackouts Andipatti Wind Power Project generates 90,000 tonnes of are also common throughout the main cities.1 emissions reductions on average per year. The country has a GDP per capita of $3,700 per year (2011), ranking it 165th in the world, with nearly 30% of Additional benefits the population below the poverty line. India also ranks 134 out of 187 countries globally in terms of Human In addition to the emission reduction benefits, the project Development Index – a comparative measure of life indirectly improves the overall local air quality as it does not expectancy, literacy, education, standards of living and incur the environmental pollution (such as releasing sulphur quality of life.2 dioxide) or solid waste problems associated with coal-fired power plants. Unlike coal plants, wind farms also don’t require The country’s rapid population growth has in turn put water during the power generation process. increasing pressure on growing its electricity generating capacity with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) The project has also contributed to the local economy from 1971 to 2011 at a 6.9% - still traditional thermal and livelihood of residents through the creation of jobs power plants accounted for the highest growth rate from - approximately 15 people are employed full time for 2009-2011 at over 11%.3 India generates approximately operational roles while 5-10 work in field security. The 70% of its electricity from fossil fuels and ranks fourth in planning and commissioning of the wind farm required the world in CO emissions from energy use.4 India is the approximately an additional 50 workers for road and 2 third-largest consumer and producer of coal in the world power infrastructure construction, turbine erection and and in 2010, India was also the world’s fifth largest net commissioning and managing operations. The project held a importer of oil.5 stakeholder meeting with local villagers and residents and the survey illustrated that no adverse comments were received. Vestas – the main contractor of the project in providing the turbines – has undertaken various educational initiatives in nearby towns as part of their CSR programme such as providing school furniture and arranging for inter-school sports and culture programmes. 1World Bank, CIA World Factbook 2http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/ 3http://mospi.nic.in/mospi_new/upload/Energy_Statistics_2012_28mar.pdf The CarbonNeutral Company - a world-leading provider of carbon reduction solutions 4CIA World Factbook London T: +44 20 7833 6000 E: [email protected] 5http://www.eia.gov/cabs/india/Full.html New York T: 1-646-367-5800 E: [email protected] www.carbonneutral.com The technology Tamil Nadu state has great potential for renewable power, Wind is an abundant energy resource which can be used largely due to three prominent passes having high wind to generate clean electricity through wind turbines. Wind potential during the South West Monsoon. The state has power is produced by transferring the kinetic energy from the largest installed capacity of grid connected renewable wind to rotors. The mechanical energy from the wind power (90% of which is wind) and has about 40% of the turbine’s rotating blades then powers an electric generator. country’s installed wind capacity. However, as the second largest economy among states in India, the total energy The output of a wind turbine depends on the turbine’s demand in Tamil Nadu is increasing exponentially and the size and the wind’s speed through the rotor blades. These state suffers power cuts for more than 11 hours a day blades range from around 30 to 90 metres in diameter and (except the capital city of Chennai that only has 2 hours the supporting towers are roughly the same size in height. of power cuts a day). The promotion of renewable energy The power generated by utility-scale turbines varies from sources has largely been to solve this energy shortage. 100 kilowatts to as much as seven megawatts. Larger turbines are grouped together into wind farms, providing bulk power to the electrical grid which is sent through transmission and distribution lines to homes and businesses. China Pakistan Nepal Bhutan Bangladesh Burma Arabian Sea Bay of Bengal Location: The project is spead across Jangalpatti, Poomalaikundu, & Seepalakottai villages of Theni district of Tamil Nadu state, India. The CarbonNeutral Company - a world-leading provider of carbon reduction solutions London T: +44 20 7833 6000 E: [email protected] New York T: 1-646-367-5800 E: [email protected] www.carbonneutral.com.