Offshore Wind

Globally offshore wind is about two decades old history with the first offshore wind turbine in Denmark in 1991 which has been decommissioned in 2017. As of now, offshore wind energy projects of more than 57 GW are installed in 18 different countries, of which leading countries are UK, China, Germany, Denmark and The Netherlands.

India is blessed with a coastline of about 7600 km surrounded by water on three sides and has good prospects of harnessing offshore wind energy. Considering this, the Government had notified the “Nationaloffshore wind energy policy”as per the Gazette Notification dated 6th October 2015. As per the policy, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy will act as the nodal Ministry for development of Offshore Wind Energy in India and work in close coordination with other government entities for Development and Use of Maritime Space within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the country and shall be responsible for overall monitoring of offshore wind energy development in the country. National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), Chennai will be the nodal agency to carryout resource assessment, surveys and studies in EEZ, demarcate blocks and facilitate developers for setting up offshore wind energy farms.

Absence of any obstruction in the sea offers much better quality of wind and its conversion to electrical energy. Offshore wind turbines are much larger in size (in range of 5 to 10 MW per turbine) as against 2-3 MW of an onshore wind turbine. While, the cost per MW for offshore turbines are higher because of stronger structures and foundations needed in marine environment, the desirable tariffs can be achieved on account of higher efficiencies of these turbines after development of the eco system.

Facilitating Offshore Wind Energy in India (FOWIND)

Is a project implemented from December 2013 to March 2018 by a consortium led by Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and supported by European Union (EU) to assist India on its offshore wind power development and in turn contribute to India’s transition towards use of clean technologies in the power sector. The project focused on the States of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu for identification of potential zones for development through techno-commercial analysis and preliminary resource assessment. The outcomes of the FOWIND are summarized in the following reports.

First Offshore Wind Power project in India (FOWPI)

Is another project getting implemented from December, 2015 by a consortium led by COWI and supported by European Union with an objective to provide assistance up to the stage of Pre-Financial-Investment-Decision (Pre-FiT) and provide general assistance for capacity building of Indian stakeholders within offshore wind sector. The following reports are already published under FOWPI project.

Identified Offshore Wind Zones for Initial Project Development

Based on the preliminary assessment from satellite data and data available from other sources eight zones each in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have been identified as potential offshore zones for exploitation of offshore wind energy. Initial assessment by NIWE within the identified zones suggests 36 GW of offshore wind energy potential exists off the coast of Gujarat only. Further, nearly 35 GW of offshore wind energy potential exists off the Tamil Nadu coast.

Strategy Paper for Establishment of Offshore Wind Energy Projects

Strategy Paper for Establishment of Offshore Wind Energy Projects (2.9 MB, PDF)

Ministry has issued the revised strategy for development of offshore wind through ‘Strategy for Establishment of Offshore Wind energy Projects’ Revision 02 dated 26th Sept, 2023. As per strategy, 03 following models has been envisaged for the development of offshore wind:

1) Model-A: This model will be followed for the sites for which studies/ surveys has been conducted or proposed to be conducted by NIWE/Govt entity. MNRE through its implementing agencies will come up with bid for procurement of offshore wind power capacity under this model. Necessary central financial assistance in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) would be available to achieve a predetermined power tariff.

2) Model-B: The model will be followed for the sites for which studies/ surveys will be conducted by prospective developers (with exclusivity on seabed) and project development will be through bilateral agreements or for captive consumption or power exchange basis. Government may also call for bids for procurement of power for DISCOMs on the basis of tariff after two years. Project development shall be carried out by the prospective developer without any Central Financial Assistance (CFA).

3) Model-C: In this model, Developer may identify any offshore wind site within the EEZ excluding the sites considered under Model-A & Model-B and carry out studies and surveys. The Government will come up with bid for project development/allocation of the seabed. The developer who has conducted the study/survey of respective sites may also submit the proposal for project development and allocation of offshore sites under this model. In this case, site specific bidding would be conducted with a first right of refusal to the developer who had conducted study/survey. However, Project development shall be carried out by the prospective developer in this zone without any Central Financial Assistance (CFA).

Offshore Wind Energy Lease Rules

In order to regulate the leasing mechanism of offshore areas towards development of offshore wind energy projects, the offshore wind energy lease rules has been notified by Ministry of External Affairs vide G.S.R. 901(E) dated 19/12/2023. The administration of these rules shall be done by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

Offshore Wind Energy Lease Rules, 2023 (1 MB, PDF)

Guidelines for Offshore Wind Power Assessment Studies and Surveys

The ‘Guidelinesfor Offshore Wind Power Assessment Studies and Surveys’ (793 KB, PDF) was approved and issued by NIWE in September, 2018 to facilitate stakeholders who are interested for carrying out the study/survey activity for development of offshore wind energy project.

Offshore Wind Resource Assessment through LiDAR

The offshore wind energy potential estimation carried out through satellite data needs to be validated through actual ground measurements in order to make the data bankable. Ministry has decided to launch a measurement campaign deploying Light Detection and Ranging (LiDARs) at the identified zones off the coast of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. One LiDAR was commissioned in November 2017 for Offshore Wind Resource assessment in identified zone-B off the coast of Gujarat nearly 25 km away from the port of Pipavav. Two years data collected from the deployed LiDAR has been analysed and the report is published at NIWE’s website.The raw data can be accessed from NIWE website (https://niwe.res.in/department_wsom_lidar_raw_data.php). As per the report, the annual average wind speed at the locations is observed to be 7.52 m/s at 100m hub height.

Oceanographic, Geophysical and Geotechnical studies

In addition to the wind data, the viability of offshore wind projects also largely depends on the condition of site in terms of oceanographic data, geophysical and geotechnical data. Ministry has planned to carry out the required study in this regard through NIWE and provide the basic data to the stakeholders before commencement of the bidding so as to mitigate the risks. Geo-physical Survey for 365 Sq. km (Gujarat) for 1.0 GW project capacity in Gujarat has been completed. One rapid EIA has also been carried out for this site.