An insight into offshore wind power projects of India
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Offshore wind project status in India - Goal is 30 GW by 2030
- The story: India plans to provide 24x7 electricity to every home, as energy availability is the first condition for rapid GDP growth. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has forecast that India's energy demand will rise six-seven per cent annually over the next decade. To decarbonise the energy sector is crucial now.
- Offshore wind: This is where offshore wind comes into picture. The transition to clean energy can be facilitated by it. India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has 195 gigawatt (GW) of technological offshore wind potential (112 GW fixed and 83 GW floating) (a World Bank-ESMAP report). But high capital expenditures (CAPEX) and a lack of government support have been major deterrents.
- So, 195 GW of technological offshore wind potential in India’s EEZ still unharnessed
- The National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) estimates 36 GW of offshore potential off the Gujarat coast and 35 GW off the Tamil Nadu coast using mesoscale satellite data.
- In line with India's nationally determined contributions (NDCs), it plans to generate 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030 — including five GW of offshore wind energy by 2022 and plans to scale it further to 30 GW by 2030.
- How it works: Offshore wind is an abundant domestic energy resource that is located close to major coastal load centers. It provides an efficient alternative to long-distance transmission or development of electricity generation in these land-constrained regions. Offshore wind facility design and engineering depends on site-specific conditions, particularly water depth, seabed geology, and wave loading. All wind turbines operate in the same basic manner. As the wind blows, it flows over the airfoil-shaped blades of wind turbines, causing the turbine blades to spin. The blades are connected to a drive shaft that turns an electric generator to produce electricity. The newest wind turbines are technologically advanced and include engineering and mechanical innovations to help maximize efficiency and increase the production of electricity. Offshore winds tend to blow harder and more uniformly than on land. Since higher wind speeds can produce significantly more energy/electricity, developers are interested in pursuing offshore wind energy resources.
- Project status: Offshore wind is seen as a response to India’s growing power demand, competition over land availability, and a system balancing technology. In 2015, the Indian government introduced the National Offshore Wind Energy Policy and the EU-funded First Offshore Wind Project of India or FOWPI 2016-2019, according to the Global Wind Energy Council. The draft Offshore Wind Energy Lease Rules were made available for comment in 2019.
- Gujarat invited an expression of interest (EOI) for India's first offshore wind project of 1 GW in 2018, which attracted nearly 35 major companies. The EOI has not moved forward due to the high CAPEX and lack of government support.
- In 2019, India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) applied for €800 million in viability gap funding to help support the construction of India's first 1 GW offshore wind project in Gujarat. To date, India has not begun any offshore wind projects.
- Speeding it up: Studies identified 16 potential zones in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, with a concept design for demonstration projects ranging from 150 to 504 megawatt (MW). Based on 4-10 MW turbine ratings, they found net capacity factors ranging from 26.9-32 per cent in Gujarat and 30-38.1 per cent in Tamil Nadu. Even as the final tender for the one GW project at Pipavav in the Gulf of Khambhat, Gujarat, is in the pipeline, industry interest shifted to the stronger wind resource and geotechnical conditions in Tamil Nadu. To facilitate offshore wind siting, the MNRE intends to conduct an offshore wind measurement campaign for a minimum of 10 GW of accurate on-site measurements.
- NIWE plans to install five LiDARs (Light Detection and Ranging) by 2021 to gather precise bankable data that will be critical to developing offshore wind projects of up to 7.4 GW indicative installable capacity.
- A tender was floated for the design, fabrication, delivery, and installation of support structures for four offshore LiDARs. Interventions such as these are likely to enhance the robustness of estimates of commercially viable offshore wind in India.
- Onshore, offshore: As India already has cheaper onshore wind and solar power, the MNRE is seeking feasible cost interventions from stakeholders for offshore wind. Offshore wind Power Purchase Agreement and auction designs are being examined by government authorities. The MNRE, NIWE and the Danish Energy Agency have entered into a partnership for financial modelling of offshore wind farms in India or FIMOI 2019-2021.
- Summary: Offshore wind market potential in India is huge, but it requires increased government-industry coordination and techno-economic studies to be realised in this decade.
- EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain the way offshore wind energy systems work. Why is India finding it tough to make them feasible? (2) What are the ways onshore and offshore RE sources differ in cost-competitiveness? Explain.
#OffshoreWind #RenewableEnergy #RE #OnshoreEnergy #MNRE
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