GREEN NORMS FOR WIND POWER. Potential Impacts and the Need for Green Norms

Transcription

1 GREEN NORMS FOR WIND POWER Potential Impacts and the Need for Green Norms

2 INDIA WORLD RE: 1% Hydro 2% Biomass 34% Oil: 8% Coal, 43% Nuclear 6% Natural Gas: 21% Hydro 2% Biomass 10% RE 1% Oil: 32% Coal 27% Nuclear 2% Natural Gas, 8% Lignite, 2% Primary Energy

3 INDIA WORLD Hydro: 14% RE: 5.50% Hydro: 16% RE: 3% Fossil Fuels & Nuclear: 80.5% Fossil Fuels & Nuclear: 81% Electricity

4 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000-19,051 Wind 3,632 Small Hydro Power 1,265 2,337 Biomass Power Bagasse Cogeneration As On March 31, 2013 (In MW) Grid Connected Renewable Power 96 Waste to Power 1,686 Solar Power (SPV) The installation of grid connected RE (excluding large hydro) in India has grown from 3.5 GW in March 2002 to 28 GW in March 2013 annual growth rate of 23% As of March 2012, RE (excluding large hydro) constituted 12.3% of installed capacity billion kwh of electricity generated in annual requirement of about 60 million people

5 Installed Capacity Growth (GW) In the last 10 years, Wind Power in India has grown 10 folds at a rate of 25.5% per annum fifth largest in the world 12 th FYP target: 15 GW India: Wind Power

6 Installed Capacity Growth (MW) 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1, ,976 2,560 1,488 1,646 1,939 2,004 2,203 1, Potential: 5439 MW Maharashtra: Wind Power

7 State Estimated potential at 80 metre hub height (MW) Andhra Pradesh Gujarat Karnataka Maharashtra Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Others Total Achievement (MW) till August 1, 2012 All India wind power potential estimated to be GW State-wise achievements and potential

8 Impacts

9 For 25 years, Timbuktu collectives regenerated 7000 acres of revenue waste lands of 8 Villages in Kalpavalli of Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh one of the most draught prone areas of the country. They converted a semi-desert region into a forest and a vibrant agro-pastoralist economy. In 2004, Enercon got approval to set up 50.4 MW Nalconda Wind Farm in the region (63 turbines). Kalpavalli and Wind Power

10 Kalpavalli 25 Years ago

11 COLLECTIVE WORK

12 After 25 years Dense Forests

13 Streams Revived

14 Tanks regenerated

15 Paddy fields

16 Pastures lands Fodder security

17 Kalpavalli Today Hilltops cut for Windmill installation

18 Road Construction Approx. 40 km (10-20 m wide) roads Approx. 190 Acres vegetation destroyed

19 MASSIVE SOIL EROSION AN D LAN D DEG RADATION Approx ft land mass removed for road construction on Contours

20 Land and forest degradation Habitat fragmentation, Habitat loss Impacts on wild life including birds Major impacts on watershed; siltation of water bodies Impact on grazing land including restriction in the movement of animals Impacts of livelihoods No mitigation done although possible to minimise impacts Impacts of wind power: Kalpavalli

21 Forest diversion, linear fragmentation and impacts on wildlife, forest ecology and water bodies Impacts on birds and bats Land degradation Noise and shadow flicker: magnitude and impacts depends on many variables such as location, distance of human settlement, local topography, weather, background sound levels etc. Social Impacts aesthetics, tourism, land acquisition, livelihoods etc. Wind: Environmental Impacts

22 LINEAR FRAGMENTATION: Access roads and transmission lines to and from multiple wind projects lead to forest fragmentation isolation of species and disruption of the movements of animals. Increase in human-animal conflict

23 Regulations

24 Wind power projects - not covered under the 2006 EIA Notification; No EIA and EC Categorized in the "green" category under air and water Act by most SPCBs Given Consent to Establish and a Consent to Operate for 5 years under Air Act status of implementation unknown States Rajasthan Uttarakhand Karnataka Haryana Category Green Red Green Green EC and Pollution Regulations

25 Clearance required for forest diversion, but no impact assessment report or environment management plan Guidelines by the MOEF as for how to handle forest clearance for wind power: Wind power projects not to be considered in national parks and sanctuaries, areas of outstanding natural beauty, important landscape, natural heritage sites etc. Wind turbines to be located 300 m away from habitation and highways in normal course Cost-benefit analysis report Implementation of soil and moisture conservation measures 60-75% land to be utilised for developing medicinal plant gardens where feasible. Poor implementation and violation of guidelines Forest Clearance and guidelines

26 Time period Wind power capacity Installed (MW) Till March April 2006 to March 2013 Total 3932 ha diverted for 72 projects % diverted in Karnataka (57%) and Maharashtra (31%) Average diversion: about 0.5 ha/mw Forest area cleared (hectares) About 8500 MW or 45% of total wind power installed in forest areas Quick clearance average 7.5 months till final clearance; in-principle clearance in many cases in less than a month (the lowest being 10 days) How much forest land diverted?

27 NBWL clearance required if project falling under eco-sensitive zone around national park and wildlife sanctuaries NBWL may ask for impact assessment study; so far none asked NBWL has issued draft guidelines on how to handle linear intrusion: Alternative route analysis Budget for mitigation Cumulative impact Check erosion and water body impact Provide measures to avoid electrocution, road-kill It further says that guidelines are not applicable to state, reserve and protected forests if independent EIA study shows no effects If guidelines are implemented than linear intrusion for wind projects will need EIA Wildlife clearance

28 Global Best Practices

29 Countries Netherlands Spain Germany Ireland Denmark US China EIA and threshold value 10 MW and above, < 10 MW case by case examination 50 turbines, Ramsar areas 10MW and above, less than threshold SCREENING process used Height (35 m) or 10 MW with 20 turbines or more >5 MW or more than 5 turbines Height of turbine > 80 m or number of turbine more than 3 50 MW or more, less than 50 MW EA study is applicable Detailed EIA for 50 MW and above, Less than 50 MW IEE Wind Power: EIA

30 Limiting noise (Netherlands: 40 db from nearest habitation) Limiting shadow flicker (Netherlands: 20 min per day, 17 hours per year) Cumulative impact assessment (Sweden) Limiting impact on birdlife (studies conducted on siting away from nesting areas, migration routes; EU s Natural 2000 and Bird s regulation) Public Participation in process, before and during involving all stakeholders (EU s regulation) Benefit sharing (US) Wind power: Other regulations

31 Recommendations

32 Compared to conventional sources of power, wind is much less polluting. But ecological and social impacts could be as high Little environmental regulations exists presently The little regulation that exists is either ineffective or inconsequential or poorly implemented Need for clear regulations and standards Recommendations

33 EIA for individual project If the project is greater than 50 MW then the project is classified under Category A and needs to undergo EIA process. If the project is greater than 10 MW and falls in the forest area, it is classified under Category A and needs to undergo EIA process. If the project is greater than 10 MW and less than 50 MW, then the project is classified under B category and should undergo screening to ascertain possible environmental impact. Recommendations

34 Need for Strategic Impact Assessment to be implemented by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Identification of potential area followed by district level mapping of wind energy potential with the help of C-WET and other related agencies. Based on feasibility study, detailed Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) needs to be carried out to assess the overall impact. Decide on probable wind farm locations excluding sensitive areas as indicated by EIA study. Environment Management Plan (EMP) for each location. The EMP could be put as condition while granting Consent to Establish (CTE) and Consent to Operate (CTO) by SPCB. Recommendations

35 Setting of standards to protect human health from impacts like noise and shadow flickers. Policy and standards for decommissioning of wind turbines to optimize the use of land resources. Sharing the benefits with the local community, including the first right of the community over the power produced by the wind projects. More research to understand impacts for better planning and design Recommendations

36 CHANDRA BHUSHAN Deputy Director General Centre for Science & Environment