India is fortunate to have a coastline that is around 7600 kilometres long, which is bordered by water on three sides and has high potential for the development of offshore wind energy.
In light of this, the Government of India issued the "National Offshore Wind Energy Policy" in October 2015. As per the notification, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is the nodal ministry for the development of Offshore Wind Energy in India. This ministry will work in close coordination with other government entities for the Development and Use of Maritime Space within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the country in an effective manner for the generation of power.
Just off the coast of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu has an initial assessment of the offshore wind energy potential been conducted, and it has been predicted to be approximately 70 GW within the selected zones. Off the coast of Gujarat, wind resource measurements using LIDARs, as well as geo-physical, geo-technical, and fast Environmental Impact Assessment studies, have been carried out.
In July 2022, the Ministry also issued a "Strategy Paper for Offshore Wind Deployment." The strategy consists of three different economic models for the development of offshore wind energy projects, as well as a bidding trajectory that will reach 37 GW capacity by the year 2030. The plan calls for the expansion of offshore transmission and evacuation facilities in addition to the installation of a capacity of three gigawatts (GW), which will be supported by an appropriate level of central financial assistance in the form of VGF. In addition to this, it contemplates the allocation of sea beds to private developers for the development of offshore wind energy projects under the terms of open access/captive consumption or sale to a third party in the absence of any direct financial aid.
As per various reports, the Central Transmission Utility has finished the planning process for the necessary transmission infrastructure for offshore wind projects, which will result in an initial capacity of 10 GW offshore (05 GW each off Gujarat and Tamil Nadu coast).
For more information visit: https://mnre.gov.in/wind/offshore-wind/
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