Renewable Energy: A Study Ofvankuswade Wind PARK, India

Man has been using the wind for sailing ships, for pumping water and for supplying mills with power for a very long time.The increasing concern for environment and the high price of oil have made generation of electricity from the wind a realistic alternative. The question today is whether the costs and other disadvantages of oil and nuclear power have reached the point where wind generators developed by modern technology can be considered to be competitive.

The wind power in India began in 1990 and has significantly increased in last few years. India has installed high capacity wind jammers to exploits wind and converts it as wind energy for its socio-economic inclusive development programme. As on 31 January 2013 the installed capacity of wind power in India was 19564.95 mw.

Maharashtra state has the second position in wind energy in India. The first wind power project in the state was installed at Jamsande in Sindhdurg district in 1986. Vankuswade Wind Park is located on a high mountain plateau at 1,150 m. above the Koyana reservoir near Satara which is Asia’s biggest wind power project. There are some issues like land acquiring and local perceptions. The attempt has been made to explore the situation which will help to solve the issues of conflict in future.The paper presents the overall situation of Vankuswade Wind Park, its need as well as ground level perceptions in Satara district of Maharashtra, India