The flip side of climate change? Likely to boost solar, wind energy potential of Kerala, TN, says study

ALAPPUZHA: A study carried out by the researchers of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, has revealed that global warming will change the climate of Kerala and Tamil Nadu compared to other Indian states. It will increase the solar and wind energy potential of these states.

According to the study published in the latest issue of Current Science magazine, the potential for renewable energy sources will increase in these states, while other states will face crises.

"While the situation in most parts of India will be a reduction in solar radiation, which is also expected to impact during most of the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons (June to November), the situation may be different for both Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The projection of solar potential across Tamil Nadu and Kerala is much better than in other regions of India. The region is also found to be less cloudy in future," Parthasarathy Mukhopadhyay, a member of the research team told TNIE over phone from Pune.

The study titled 'Analysis of future wind and solar potential over India' was carried out by T S Anandh, Deepa Gopalakrishnan, and Parthasarathy with the assistance of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Researchers carried out the study by using various state-of-the-art climate models, devised by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to analyse the wind and solar projections for the renewable energy sector over the Indian subcontinent for the next 40 years. The study also stated that the future wind potential for both states is also positive across the region. "Some of the high wind speeds projected in future lie along Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The wind speed is found to increase in future during all seasons except monsoon," said Parthasarathy.

The study will become a game changer to the mission of state government to make the state carbon neutral by 2050. According to the latest information provided by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Tamil Nadu recorded solar energy generation with 8,605 million units (MU) between April 2021 and May 2022 while Kerala saw 600.56 MU during the same period. MNRE's data also show a significant increase in Tamil Nadu's solar capacity from 2016 (1,062 MW) to 2022 (5690.79 MW).

However, the same cannot be said of Kerala which witnessed just 13 MW in 2016. It increased to 539.60 MW in 2022, the report said.

Tamil Nadu's latest Renewable Energy Policy has set an ambitious target of 20,000 MW of solar power projects, with adequate battery storage. The Kerala government, on the other hand, announced earlier this year its ambition to become carbon neutral by 2050 with a focused approach toward the growth of renewable energy. Kerala, however, has been lagging behind in overall solar installations, the researchers said.

(THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS)

615 Days ago