ABSTRACT
Wind energy has been exploited for thousands of years. In India, too, there are references about windmills dating back to 1879. The first systematic efforts to harness wind energy in the country were undertaken during the fifties and early sixties by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research at the National Aeronautical Laboratory, mainly in the field of water-pumping windmills. The most prominent feature of the wind climatology in India is the monsoon circulations. Winds in India are influenced by the strong south-west summer monsoon, which starts in May or June, when cool, humid air moves towards the land and the weaker north-east winter monsoon, which starts in October, when cool, dry air moves towards the ocean. In India, the total wind power capacity has reached 900 MW, and about 2 billion units of electricity have been fed to the grid from wind farm projects so far.
