India eyes wind turbine rebuild to boost output, bypass country's woes

India is considering replacing aging wind turbines with larger, more efficient machines to boost production on older farms without having to acquire more land.

Up to 8 gigawatts of capacity using old and smaller turbines can be upgraded with modern units, according to a preliminary assessment by the Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association of India, CEO Aditya Pyasi said in an interview. The lobbying group is in talks with the federal and state governments to finalize a plan that could help increase capacity at those sites by nearly 50%.

Wind power is increasingly important for India to meet the peak electricity demand after sunset. Although the country’s green energy capacity has quadrupled since 2014, wind lags far behind solar, with land acquisition and right-of-way remaining major obstacles to faster deployment. This – coupled with limited battery storage – has left the grid struggling to absorb excess daytime generation, forcing solar to curtail and creating blackouts at night.

Installations reached a record 6.3 gigawatts in 2025. Still, deployment of wind projects remains below the pace needed to meet India’s 2030 target of 500 gigawatts of clean energy capacity. Replacing older turbines of up to 2 megawatts with modern 3- to 5-megawatt units at existing sites could help overcome barriers to land access.

IWTMA is working with wind states like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka to firm up the implementation plan, Pyasi said. “While the long-term potential is around 25 gigawatts, our assessment shows that we can start restoring 5 to 8 gigawatts immediately.”

Globally, 178 gigawatts of wind farm projects built before 2010 will be available for retrofit by 2030, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency, which sees retrofitting as an important tool to meet the goal of tripling global renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade.

“Onshore wind energy recovery is not a technical note. It is a strategic imperative,” IRENA said in a June web presentation.

By 2023, India’s Ministry of Renewable Energy has estimated that about 25 gigawatts of projects, roughly 40% of the country’s current installed wind capacity, will use turbines smaller than 2 megawatts. These could be powered by newer equipment. Modern turbines can exceed 5 megawatts and be more than 100 meters tall, allowing them to tap into stronger wind without obstacles and generate more electricity for every acre of land occupied.