India has expanded its grid-interactive renewable energy by about 2.3 gigawatts (GW) in the year ending 31 March 2010, with the biggest contribution coming from wind power.

The total installed capacity for the financial year 2009/10 reached 16.8GW, according to a statement from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

Grid-connected renewable power has seen a leap in its total installed capacity from 4.7GW since 31 March 2004.

Of the 2.3GW of renewable energy added to the grid, wind power takes up 1.6GW, small hydro power 305 megawatts (MW), biomass power 153MW and solar power 8MW.

A further 80MW of off-grid/captive power generation capacity from different renewable energy sources has also been added during the financial year.

Out of the total installed capacity of 16.8GW for the year, wind accounts for 11.8GW, small hydro power for 2.7GW, biomass for 866MW and solar for 10MW.

Dr Farooq Abdullah, union minister for new and renewable energy, sayas renewable sources could account for 5-6% of the India's energy mix by 2031-32.

Southern state Tamil Nadu has been leading the charge on wind energy development in India with an installed capacity of more than 4.9GW.

“Tamil Nadu has been a leader in wind capacity addition and we expect the state to add 500MW of new capacity annually over the next five years,” says Abdullah.

India set aside 3.9bn rupees ($8.4m) to promote the development of renewable energy sources during the 2009/10 financial year.

Lee Hong Liang