The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) organised ‘Global Wind Day’ on the 15^th of June 2024, aimed at celebrating the glorious success of Indian Wind Sector so far and also discussing the potential way forward for accelerating wind energy adoption in India. With a central theme of “Pawan–Urja: Powering the Future of India”, the event successfully conducted panel discussions around the ‘Role of Wind Energy in Meeting the Power Demand’, ‘Accelerating Onshore Wind Energy Adoption in India’ and ‘Offshore Wind Development in India: Bolstering India’s Energy Security’.

Minister of State of New & Renewable Energy and Power Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, Shri Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, Secretary, MNRE and other key stakeholders from government, industry, & academia were present at the event.

India has a history of wind energy generation spanning more than four decades. With a cumulative installed wind power capacity of 46.4 GW by May 2024, it has progressed to become the fourth largest in the world. The event discussed the production potential, challenges, and feasible way forward to enhance the wind energy generation capacity which is essential to achieve the Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs). Wind energy is crucial to India's efforts in achieving 50% of its electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030 and net zero by 2070.

The Minister of State of Power and New & Renewable Energy Shri Shripad Yesso Naik facilitated states of Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu for achieving highest wind capacity addition in the country during FY year 2023-24. In his inaugural address, the Union Minister called for collective action to achieve renewable energy targets, making India a leader in wind energy & creating a greener, brighter future for all.

Shri Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, Secretary, MNRE in his keynote address highlighted the previous year’s achievements and motivated the stakeholders to collaborate to realise the short term as well as long term goal for the sector. He stressed on the need to have a combination of solar and wind energy, to be able to have a more reliable grid and reach the target of 500 GW renewable energy capacity by 2030 and net zero by 2070.

The event witnessed three panel discussions, on the potential of both onshore and offshore wind energy, with the active participation from central and state government authorities, manufacturers and developers, academia, think-tanks, and other key stakeholders.

The event was conducted with successful collaboration of the Ministry, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (SSEF), Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association (IWTMA), Indian Wind Power Association (IWPA), Wind Independent Power Producers Associations (WIPPA) and Solar Power Developers Association (SPDA).

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Kripa Shankar Yadav/Kshitij Singha