Justification of Forestland Use for Wind Farm Development in Neemuch District Introduction Madhya Pradesh is a state with moderate wind potential. Neemuch is one of the few districts in the state with good wind potential. The wind data collected in Neemuch Dist. has shown quite adequate wind resource for wind power generation. Kanjarda RF & Menpichor RF Forest Blocks have very promising wind resource as it falls in the same wind regime and is favorably elevated from the surrounding ground level. A detailed computer-assisted analysis (supported by GIS/Remote Sensing data inputs) has suggested the area as most suitable for wind power generation. Since M.P. in general is a state with not very good wind potential, the sites that indicate GOOD WIND POTENTIAL must be immediately taken up for CLEAN POWER generation to CONSERVE non-renewable resources & contribute towards closing the gap in supply & demand of electricity. The proposed project site falls in forest area. The forestland earmarked for diversion is comprised of BLANK forest patches, marked mostly as BL2 (useful only for raising grasses) & BL3 (area where forest development work any type is not possible) in forest stock maps. A thin strip of area 98.78 Ha of such land is sought for this ECO-FRIENDLY Wind Power Project. Compensatory afforestation on a tract of land of equal area, reinforced by the best afforestation practices and complete protection from biotic pressure will ensure development of good quality of forests. This will add to the forest resources of the state and will help to move closer to the coveted 33% forest cover. A total of 14.16 Ha of the required 98.78 Ha would be used in the construction of roads of length equal to 23.595 km. It would also serve as a permanent fire line in the future. Thus the annual expenditure regularly made by the Forest Department under this head in this area would be saved for the many years to come. A total of 35.39 Ha and 5.98 Ha would be used for laying of Transmission Lines of 33 KV & 132 KV respectively giving a total area of 41.37 Ha. Under these Transmission Lines on this whole area of 41.37 Ha would be used for raising of Medicinal Plantation with dwarf species. The complete cost of the Medicinal Plantation would be met with by the user agency.
The Proposed Site & Alternatives The site is near village Suwasarakhurd in Manasa Tehsil, Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh. The site lies 30 Km to the East of Neemuch city. The site is well connected by road network and the nearest railway station is at Neemuch. The nearest Airport is at Indore. The alternative sites are located on private land also in Neemuch district. The whole Neemuch District was scanned for this purpose and the two best Wind probable sites were scouted out, one near Diken and the other near Upreda. Both of these sites are located on private land as the revenue government land available in Neemuch district has even inferior wind potential.figure 1 shows proposed Manasa site (on forest land) with respect to the other two optional site of study viz. at Diken on private land& at Upreda also on private land in Neemuch District of Madhya Pradesh. Figure 1: Key map of Proposed Site & Alternative Sites
Methodology India witnesses high intensity winds in various regions due to the topographical diversity in India. Madhya Pradesh is one those states which have moderately good wind energy potential. Efforts have been made to utilize this natural source of energy. Wind power generation is one of the most ecofriendly options to harness natural resource. Wind Power uses only the wind as an energy source. So wind power plant should be situated where wind resources are good. Since location has great impact on the wind, carefully micrositing is necessary when a good area is identified which provides information necessary to optimize wind power project. Wind turbines can be installed anywhere in reasonably open landscape but optimum wind power projects are driven by good wind conditions detailed study is necessary for viable wind power projects. Starting with data collected from Wind Masts installed in the nearby area, and utilising state-of-the-art wind power softwares based on precision extrapolation algorithms generation is calculated for different sites within the area for different options. For the development of wind power project in Neemuch district a study of all viable areas that could be potentially good Wind Farm sites was done and three different options based on technical aspects were worked out. To ascertain viability of wind power project mainly following parameters are considered: 1. Site selection 2. Wind Power Density 3.Generation. The study has been carried out on other than Forest land, the comparison of different options for the development of wind power project in Neemuch district is as below: Description of Proposed Site - (Forest Land - Manasa) The proposed wind farm is situated on an elevated ridge having geographical orientation of north west south east. The proposed site has an elevation in the range 545 m to 565 m a.s.l. The surrounding plains have an elevation of 445 m there by giving a differential elevation of 100 m to 120 m. The main wind flow is mostly from West and South West direction in these region. This is normally in most part of western Madhya Pradesh. This differential elevation on the Western slopes of the ridge will result in a reasonably good speed up effect for the wind flow during the westerlies. This site being suitably elevated is most suitable for best wind conditions through out the
region. Studies based on working on extrapolation algorithms coupled with DTMs and DEMs and softwares, the results provides Wind speed of more than 6.5 m/s at a height of 100 m. Present Wind Turbines are having hub height of 100m or more to extract maximum wind potential to generate sustainable non polluting clean energy for mankind. The site has adequate area to install wind farms, is located on the forest hillocks and these hillocks are almost flat plateau on hilltop. Wind farm Site is approximately 30 KM North/North-East of Neemuch City.The geographical situation is in between 24o34 54 N to24o31 21 N latitude and 75o09 30 E to 75o17 42 E longitude, having altitude 545 m to 580 m above mean sea level. Figure 2: Wind Power Density (WPD in Watt/sq m) Map of Proposed site at Manasa. The Wind Generators are shown located in best WPD positions.
The site coming under forest land has vegetation of varying densities and different types of trees. However, care has been taken to identify such locations for setting up a wind turbine where there is very little / no vegetation in its near surrounding. Given Below is the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of Proposed Manasa site. The model shows good corelation of differential elevation with WPD and hence the justification for the placement of the Wind Turbines. Figure 3 DEM of Proposed Manasa Site The above DEM of the proposed Manasa site shows very good Wind power density and wind speed correlation with elevation and hence coupled with its favorable west facing aspect and high differential elevation suggest a site that suggests of very good wind potential and high probablity of meeting the cruicial parameters to make up for a potentially good Wood Power Project that can provide good generation figures.
Figure 4 - Proposed Manasa Wind Power Project Site Digital Terrain Model (DTM) Alternative Site description- Option 1 - (On Private Land - Diken) The Optional site adjoining to forest area falls near village Diken in Neemuch District. This site is approximately 36 kms North East of Neemuch city.the wind farm project would consist of of 40 numbers of Wind Electric Generators (WEG) with capacity of maximum 2.1 MW each.geographical situation is in between 24o43 05 N to24o39 50 N latitude and 75o00 45 E to 75o05 50 E longitude and the altitude is in between 520 m. and 535 m. above mean sea level. A comparison with the Manasa site on Forest land shows at once the disadvantage this site suffers from not only with respect to the true elevation but the differential elevation as well. This by virtue of its direct correlation with the Wind Speed and hence with Wind Power Density (WPD) returns figures which are definitely weak in comparison. Now the whole exercise would have to centered whether this site is going to have any technical or financial advantage.
Figure 5: Wind Power Density (WPD in Watt/sq m) Map of Alternative site at Diken. The Wind Generators are shown located in best WPD positions. The above figure that depicts Wind Power Density (WPD) of the alternative Site number I at Diken shows the same number of 40 Wind Turbines of 2.1 MW wach that have been placed according to the WPD. It can be clearly seen on comparison with the Proposed site at Manasa on forest land that even the preliminary and cursory look tends to give an advantage to the original site in forest area rather than the alternative Diken site on private land which shows comparatively poorer wind potential. However, the judgment will have to be held until comparison of the other parameters required for a viable Wind Power Project is completed. The same would follow in the paragraphs below.
Figure 6 DTM of Alternative Site at Diken Alternative Site description- Option 2 - (Private Land - Upreda) The second option other than Foerst land is near village Upreda of District Neemuch. The micrositing is done for set up of 84 MW (max) wind farm which comprise 40 Nos of Wind Electric Generators (WEG) having capacity of 2.1 MW each.the proposed Wind project site is on Private Land.This site is situated approx.12 kms North-North East of Neemuch city.the geographic position is in between 24O37 01 N to 24O30 25 N latitude and 74O53 50 E to75o02 05 E longitude and the altitude is between 460m to 490m above mean sea level. A comparison with the Manasa site on Forest land shows at once the disadvantage this site suffers from not only with respect to the true elevation but the differential elevation as well. This by virtue of its direct correlation with the Wind Speed and hence with Wind Power Density (WPD) returns
figures which are definitely weak in comparison. Now the whole exercise would have to centered whether this site is going to have any technical or financial advantage. Figure 7: Wind Power Density (WPD in Watt/sq m) Map of Alternative site at Upreda. The Wind Generators are shown located in best WPD positions. The above figure that depicts Wind Power Density (WPD) of the alternative Site number I at Upreda shows the same number of 40 Wind Turbines of 2.1 MW wach that have been placed according to the WPD. It can be clearly seen on comparison with the Proposed site at Manasa on forest land that even the preliminary and cursory look tends to give an advantage to the original site in forest area rather than the alternative Upreda site on private land which shows comparatively poorer wind potential.
However, the judgment will have to be held until comparison of the other parameters required for a viable Wind Power Project is completed. The same would follow in the paragraphs below. Figure 8 DEM of Alternative Site at Upreda Provided below is a comparison of the three sites with respect to the main Wind Power Project parameters. Wind power Density: Wind Power density is very important aspect to access the viability of Wind power project. Wind density MAP (attached as Annexure IV ) depicts the Wind Power density of all the three options. Wind Power Density (WPD) of all three options is as below: Proposed Site (On Forest Land)- WPD= between 250 W/m^2 to 300 W/m^2 Alternative 1 (Private Land) WPD= between 175W/m^2 to 225 W/m^2 Alternative 2 (Private Land WPD= between 150 W/m^2 to 175 W/m^2
Generation. Proposed Site (On Forest Land)- 147 lacs units per annum Alternative 1 (Private Land) 110 lacs units per annum Alternative 2 (Private Land 96 lacs units per annum The summary of the data for the three sites, that is the proposed site and two other alternative sites located nearby the proposed Wind Farm site on forestland in Manasa Tehsil is given in Table 1 below: Table 1 No Site Land Status Latitude / Longitude Average Wind Speed CUF% Units Name Elevation m/s 1 Manasa Forest Land 24 o 34 54 N to 24 o 31 21 N and 75 o 09 30 E to 75 o 17 42 E 555 m 6.5 20% 147 lacs p.a. 2 Diken Private Land 24 o 43 05 N to 24 o 39 50 N and 75 o 00 45 E to 75 o 05 50 E long. 528m 5.8 15% 110 lacs p.a. 2 Upreda Private Land 24 O 37 01 N to 24 O 30 25 N and 74 O 53 50 E to75 O 02 05 E 475m 5.2 13% 96 lacs p.a. On the basis of the above data the following observations are made: 1. Financial Viability The comparative cash flow comparisons yield the following scenario shown in Table 2: Table 2 No Site Name Land Status IRR Break Even for 25 yr project Cost/Benefit Ratio 1 Manasa Forest Land 16.8% 7 years 2.84 2 Diken Private Land 10.1% 15 years 2.14 3 Upreda Private Land 8.0% Unviable 1.86 The analysis of the above data clearly shows that the two alternative sites for Wind Power Project suggested either at Diken or Upreda are financially much poorer and the one at Upreda is actually not financially viable at all. 2. Technical Viability The technical viability as reflected by the data comparison shown in Table 1 clearly indicates that site 2 and site 3 have relativey weak WPD, wind speed and hence generation figures in comparison to Site 1, i.e., the proposed Wind Farm site on Forestland in Manasa and Rampura Ranges.
The analysis of the above data clearly shows that the two alternative sites for Wind Power Project suggested either at Diken or Upreda are technically not much viable at all. Conclusion: It is very clear from all the above-presented data, that a potentially viable wind power project can only be developed in forestland as shown in the different maps/images above. It is clear from the above maps/images that other areas in and around this forestland is neither technically nor financially viable for development of wind power projects. Therefore the only technically and financially Wind Power Project site in the district must be located in forest area. For PRAKRRITI Green Energy Projects India Pvt. Ltd. Place:BHOPAL Dated:7 th December 2015 (D. D. Sharma) Director