Sinha presses for long-term PPAs and necessary infrastructure
India’s offshore potential is almost comparable to hydro and nuclear capacities that may add in the future, says Alok Kumar, Energy Transition Working Group (ETWG) and Secretary in Power Ministry.
He has suggested how having an offshore wind horizon, beyond 2030. This must emerge as an opportunity for the country and should be implemented on a mission mode approach to give even further force to the country’s aspirations that may lead to the development of a robust value chain and attract more enthusiastic participation of the industry.
Alok Kumar has also emphasized the ever-growing role of offshore wind in India’s power mix.
Meanwhile, Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), says India’s G20 Presidency is an opportunity for offshore wind countries, businesses and financial institutions to work together for clean energy transition ambitions.
Bhalla attributed offshore wind as a solution to air pollution and climate change mitigation and outlined India’s strides in harnessing offshore wind given its role in balancing the grid.
The senior officials underlined wind energy importance at an event on “Harnessing Offshore Wind for Accelerating Energy Transition: The Way Forward” on 16 May 2023 in Mumbai.
As part of the third Energy Transition Working Group (ETWG) meeting under India’s G20 Presidency, the Indian Government, in collaboration with the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), had convened the high-level event.
The event saw a gathering of government representatives, financial institutions and senior domestic and international industry representatives. The event emerged as a platform for the exchange of urgent priorities for bolstering offshore wind deployment in India and globally - permits and clearances, supply chain resilience, low-cost financing, capacity building and business volumes to boost market attractiveness.
Dinesh Dayanand Jagdale, Joint Secretary at MNRE, also outlined the country’s progress on various facets of offshore wind – including proposed business models, upcoming plans of rolling out tender, international collaborations, and extensive engagements between government and the industry to facilitate a robust enabling environment.
Sumant Sinha, Chairperson of GWEC India, noted collaboration between government and industry and partnership between Indian and international offshore wind companies, as well as power generators and original equipment manufacturers.
Also noting the role of multilateral development banks, Sinha pressed for long-term PPAs and necessary infrastructure.
He called for supply chain resilience-availability of customized equipment, ships, cables, and trained people among others.
There were two high-level panel discussions moderated by Ms Rebecca Williams, Global Head of Offshore Wind, GWEC and Mr Chintan Shah, former Director of IREDA, respectively.
The session titled “Role of Global Offshore Wind Sector in Reaching Net Zero Targets” focussed on deliberations around global offshore wind experience, international best practices, supply chain priorities, and expectations of the industry from the emerging Indian offshore wind market.
The panel discussion on “Financing and Capacity Building for Offshore” presented a comprehensive view of available instruments to feed the need for the development of an offshore wind ecosystem. Senior representatives of ADB, World Bank, Corio Generation, Aon, NTPC REL Limited, NIWE, ReNew, IREDA, Center of Excellence on Offshore Wind and Renewable Energy, IEA, O2 Power and SGRE among others spoke in these panels. fiinews.com
