FOWIND – Facilitating Offshore Wind in India

A four-year project to support the development of offshore wind in India (www.fowind.in).

 

About the project

 The EU Delegation to India, in close cooperation with the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, has awarded a €4 million grant to a GWEC led consortium under the Indo-European Cooperation on Renewable Energy programme.

The FOWIND project seeks to facilitate India’s transition towards low carbon development by supporting implementation of national policies and programmes for offshore wind.

FOWIND is a four-year project to develop a roadmap for offshore wind development in India, with a focus on the states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Its output will be supported by preliminary resource assessments to identify potential areas for offshore development along the coasts of the States of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

Download the FOWIND leaflet.

 

FOWIND objectives

 The specific objectives of the project are:
  • To create an enabling environment for offshore wind through preliminary resource mapping, policy guidance and capacity building measures
  • To assess the infrastructure base and identify improvements required
  • To build partnerships at a technical, policy and research level both within India and between India and European companies, research groups and institutions
  • Finally to develop an Offshore Wind Outlook and development pathway for India up to 2032

 

What’s happening in India

 India was the 4th largest wind power market in 2013. It is the 5th largest onshore market cumulatively with a total installed capacity of over 20 GW at the end of last year. It has a coastline of nearly 7,500 kms, with relatively shallow waters (within 12 nautical miles of the coast) near to shore in most parts. The country’s power demand is set to grow rapidly in the next decade and large-scale clean power generation alternatives are needed.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy put forth a draft offshore wind policy in 2012. The Ministry intends to adopt a formal offshore wind policy for the country in the near future.

Preliminary assessments in India suggest offshore prospects along the coastline of the states of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Goa.

Under the FOWIND project, GWEC will work with its Indian partners in order that they may learn as much as possible from the European experience to ensure that when India ventures offshore it does so in the most effective way possible; helping to lower the financial and regulatory risks for investors in offshore wind projects, as and when they come up in India. 

 

FOWIND Project Inception Report

 The Project Inception Report provides an assessment of the status of  major factors that will influence the development of offshore wind in India.
 

The FOWIND project has now been operational for over six months, and together with our Consortium Partners (C-STEP, DNV GL, WISE, GPCL and IEDCL) we have built on the work we put in on the original proposal to come up with this report.

In it you will find fully fleshed out analysis which will serve as a baseline against which we measure our own progress, as well as that of the private sector and government as we move towards the creation of a flourishing offshore wind industry, bringing large quantities of clean and affordable energy to a growing nation to power its continued and accelerated economic growth, as well as contributing to its industrial development and energy security. The report outlines many challenges which will need to be faced and overcome in the coming years: to develop the necessary policy and regulatory frameworks across many government departments at both central and state levels; to attract both public and private investment in the necessary infrastructure to facilitate the development of the industry, particularly when it comes to ports and grids; and finally, to ensure that the conditions are created to leverage India’s natural advantages to contain costs in the first instance, and continually lower them over the medium to longer term.

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