India’s first offshore wind energy project could be operation in a period of three to five years, an international renewable energy group has stated.
Officials of the DNV GL group recently stated that commercial operations of offshore wind energy projects would start in India over the next three to five years. Group Executive Vice President and Regional Manager Mathias Steck stated that his company is working with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to prepare a roadmap for the development of offshore wind energy market in India.
Development of offshore wind energy in India is being funded by the Facilitating Offshore Wind in Industry (FOWIND) programme sponsored by the European Union. FOWIND has done several reports on offshore wind energy potential in the states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
A 100 MW pilot offshore wind energy project is expected to be operational in about three years.
In 2015, the Indian Government approved its new national offshore wind energy policy to promote and streamline the process of implementing offshore wind energy projects. As per the policy, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) will be the nodal agency for implementation of wind energy projects, while the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) will be responsible for allocating project sites.
Apart from a pilot project backed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, private company Suzlon Energy is also working on a 600 MW offshore wind energy project in Gujarat.
The ministry had also announced plans to issue tender and hold competitive auction to allocate project sites this year, however, no such activity has so far been seen from the government.
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