Offshore wind

India’s pilot project generating 100-MW of electricity from wind-propelled generators off Gujarat will commence in three years.

“We are preparing India for offshore wind by providing a road map for offshore wind for Gujarat and Tamil Nadu states,” said Mathias Steck, DNV GL’s Executive Vice President and Regional Manager for APAC, Energy & Renewables Advisory – Energy.

The government has already identified sites off Gujarat and Tamil Nadu for offshore wind energy which is expected start in five years. The road map is for Ministry of New and Renewables Energy.

DNV GL, which has 30 consultants in Indian since 1989, is a technical advisor to a consortium, Global Wind Energy Council, working on the offshore wind energy project.

Power Corporation Limited (GPCL), the Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), and the World Institute of Sustainable Energy (WISE) are others in the consortium.

Funded by the European Union, Facilitating Offshore Wind in India (FOWIND) will lead to development of more ocean based wind-farms off Gujarat and Tamil Nadu in five years.

FOWIND project is supported by a €4 million grant contribution through the European Union’s Indo-European Cooperation on Renewable Energy programme and €500,000 contribution through GPCL.

He noted India’s ambitious target for 100-GW of solar and 75-GW of wind energy by 2022 was gaining momentum.

“India has its own hardware suppliers, developers, Independent Power Producers and active financing sector,” said Steck of the renewable projects implementation in India.

The Indians have the capacity to work on all type of a project from early feasibility studies, bankability reports, inventory sources and optimize wind-farms, he noted.

However, grid integration remains a very important issue in the country, he pointed out.

But DNV GL is set to introduce is expertise, gathered from global renewable projects, to help in grid integration.

The offshore wind energy will be integrated into grids along coastal regions.

“We have looked after 50-GW of onshore wind projects,” he said of DNV GL’s involvement in renewables in India.

DNV GL is also working on solar energy projects as well as exploring the potential of tidal wave generation of electricity. fii-news.com