India's Wind Repowering Policy (2023) Explained

India's oldest wind farms sit on some of its best wind sites, but most of them run sub-megawatt turbines on 30 m to 60 m towers. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has a dedicated policy for replacing or refurbishing them. This guide walks through it clause by clause, in plain language, from the official text.

Source: MNRE circular No. 238/9/2018-Wind dated 7 December 2023, National Repowering & Life Extension Policy for Wind Power Projects, 2023 (PDF, MNRE). It replaced the 2016 repowering policy and took effect on the date of issue. We checked MNRE, PIB and CERC sources on 23 October 2026 and found no later amendment to it. Always confirm against the current text before relying on any clause.

Why the policy exists: 25.4 GW of old capacity

The National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) puts India's repowering potential at 25,406 MW, counting only turbines below 2 MW. The policy's stated objective is to maximise energy (kWh) per square kilometre of project area using current onshore turbine technology.

• Tamil Nadu: 7,386.5 MW
• Gujarat: 4,665.35 MW
• Maharashtra: 3,431.35 MW
• Karnataka: 3,023.35 MW
• Rajasthan: 2,933.9 MW
• Andhra Pradesh: 2,366.2 MW
• Madhya Pradesh: 1,562 MW, and Kerala: 28 MW

Who is eligible

A turbine qualifies for repowering or refurbishment if any one of these applies (clause 5):

• It does not comply with MNRE's wind turbine quality control order.
• It has completed its design life as certified under its Type Test Certificate.
• It is rated below 2 MW.
• On a commercial or voluntary basis, it has been installed for more than 15 years.

Turbines that have to be replaced within their design life because of malfunction, workmanship or safety problems are also covered.

The 1.5x generation test

This is the clause that matters most for the energy case. To count as a repowered or refurbished project under the policy, the new project's annual generation must be at least 1.5 times the actual generation of the old project (clause 6).

• Baseline: the actual average generation over the last three years before the old project was disconnected from the grid.
• Deadline: the repowered project must meet the 1.5x condition within three years of commissioning.

The policy does not spell out what happens if a project misses the test. It does mean the baseline has to be settled early from metered data, and the repowered P50, and ideally the P90, should clear 1.5x by a comfortable margin.

State policies can go further: Gujarat

States can add their own terms on top of the national policy. Gujarat's Integrated Renewable Energy Policy 2025 (24 December 2025) aligns with the national policy, but also allows repowering or refurbishment without dismantling old turbines, waives transmission charges on unused capacity during changeover, and requires turbines over 25 years old to register with the State Nodal Agency. See the India Wind Policy Weekly for 2 January 2026 for details.

Repowering versus life extension

The policy covers two routes. Repowering replaces old turbines with new, larger ones. Refurbishment for life extension keeps the turbine and upgrades components such as the gearbox, blades, generator or controller.

For life extension, the turbine must be assessed and certified by a certification agency under UL 4143 (Wind Turbine Generator Lifetime Extension), or an equivalent standard issued by BIS. The certification body then issues a new type certificate or extends the old one. Total operational life can never exceed 40 years from the original commissioning date.

Standalone and aggregation projects

Standalone

A single owner (or one owner of a group of turbines) submits a Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the State Nodal Agency (SNA) for intra-state connected projects, or to the Central Nodal Agency (CNA) for ISTS connected ones. Life extension projects are always treated as standalone.

Aggregation and the WRPA

Many old Indian sites are patchworks of small turbines with different owners sharing roads and substations. For these, the policy creates a Wind Repowering Project Aggregator (WRPA): a state or central PSE nominated by the nodal agency, a private developer selected transparently, or one of the existing owners acting with the others' consent letters. The WRPA:

• prepares the DPR and acquires any additional land;
• obtains clearances for decommissioning and development;
• acquires all site assets, including turbines, internal transmission, land and evacuation rights, and compensates owners for lost future revenue;
• decommissions and lawfully disposes of all scrap, with blades disposed of under MoEFCC and CPCB/SPCB norms and a certificate to prove it;
• hands over a site clear of encumbrances, as if it were greenfield.

An annex gives an indicative valuation method. The Repowering Site Preparation Cost equals a terminal valuation plus decommissioning cost minus scrap income. The terminal valuation is the NPV of remaining PPA net revenue (tariff × three-year average generation, minus O&M) plus a termination incentive, which the policy suggests should preferably be 10% of PPA value.

Transmission and approvals

• The SNA or CNA coordinates with the STU or CTU on transmission capacity and any augmentation.
• The developer must give the CTU or STU two years' notice of the proposed repowered capacity. Transmission charges apply under prevailing regulations.
• The nodal agency issues a consent letter once transmission availability and the incumbent discom's in-principle consent are in place.

What happens to the PPA

Clause 9 is the commercial core of the policy:

• The discom keeps buying power equal to the old three-year average generation at the existing PPA terms until the PPA expires.
• The PPA tenure is extended by the repowering period or two years, whichever is lower, excluding force majeure.
• The incumbent discom has no right to the additional power, and no obligation to buy it. The owner can sell it on the power exchange, bilaterally, or under a new short, medium or long-term PPA.
• During construction, the project is exempt from supplying the discom for up to two years, on the recommendation of the Wind Repowering Committee.
• Discoms must get at least one year's notice before repowering work starts. The old PPA can also be ended by mutual consent.

In practice this splits the repowered project's output into two revenue streams: a fixed tranche at the legacy tariff and an additional tranche sold at market or under a new contract. The energy yield assessment has to support both.

Incentives and financing

• REC, PFC and IREDA lend for repowering on the same terms as new projects.
• IREDA gives an additional 0.25% interest rate rebate on repowering loans.
• All fiscal and financial benefits available to new wind projects also apply.
• Developers are free to micro-site the new turbines for optimum energy output.

Timeline and oversight

• Commissioning: within 24 months of the consent letter, with part and early commissioning allowed.
• Wind Repowering Committee: chaired by the Joint Secretary (Wind), MNRE, with IREDA, SECI, the CTU, three independent experts and NIWE as member secretary. It monitors progress, grants the PPA supply moratorium and recommends further policy changes.
• Data: NIWE maintains a database of old projects and their performance to identify poor-performing sites, with SNAs and SLDCs supplying data and decommissioning records updated quarterly.

What it means for the energy yield assessment

• Fix the baseline first. The 1.5x test and the legacy PPA tranche both depend on the metered three-year average, so clean and agree that number before modelling the new layout.
• Show margin over 1.5x. Report the repowered P50 and P90 as a ratio of the baseline, not only in GWh.
• Measure at the new hub height. Moving from 50 m to 120 m or more is the biggest source of error in repowering. A LiDAR next to the existing record is usually the most cost-effective fix; see LiDAR vs met mast.
• Split the revenue streams. Model the legacy tranche and the additional tranche separately, including curtailment if the evacuation upgrade lags the two-year notice period.
• Check suitability and turbine listing. Micro-siting freedom still has to respect IEC 61400-1 site suitability, and the new turbine model should be checked against MNRE's current list of approved models and manufacturers.

The technical side of the repowering energy case, including SCADA, shear and neighbouring wakes, is covered in Wind Repowering in India: What the EYA Must Answer.

Frequently asked questions