Offshore wind has recently been at the centre of attention in the Indian renewable energy sector along with other emerging segments. The recent budget announcement included provisions for viability gap funding for the initial 1,000 MW of offshore wind projects. Around the same time, the Solar Energy Corporation of India launched a tender for 4 GW of offshore wind development off the coast of Tamil Nadu, to be developed in the open access mode.
The country has a long coastline of 7,600 km and is surrounded by water on three sides, making it suitably placed for offshore wind development. Tamil Nadu and Gujarat together have an estimated offshore wind potential of 71 GW and the government has announced a target to tap 30 GW of this by 2030.
While the country has had an offshore wind policy since 2015 and there has been a lot of discussion around the segment, on-ground implementation has not yet taken off. The earlier expression of interest, released in 2018, attracted many domestic and global players but led to no actual projects. This can be attributed costs, and transmission and logistics issues.
A lot has happened in the offshore wind space since then, which gives reason to believe that the recent tender announcement will finally be successful in allocation of projects. Firstly, the government has a plan in place in the form of a bidding trajectory as well as three different development models for the establishment of offshore wind energy projects. In addition, inter-state transmission charges have been waived for these projects till December 31, 2032, and a transmission roadmap have also been announced.
Net, net, it can be safely assumed that the Indian renewable energy sector is better prepared for the development of offshore wind projects this time, armed with learnings from other more established global markets as well as its own experiences.
