The international wind power trade association Global Wind Energy Council and its partners have announced the launch of an E.U. funded, four year-project to develop a roadmap for offshore wind power development in India.
In four years, India is going to see a rise in offshore wind project development thanks to a project supported by a $5.46 million fund from the European Union.
The international wind power trade association Global Wind Energy Council and its partners have announced the launch of an E.U. funded, four year-project to develop a roadmap for offshore wind power development in India.
The roadmap will help develop India’s offshore wind power potential and help the country’s transition towards low carbon development. The roadmap will be a development pathway for India’s offshore wind up to 2032.
“We believe that with careful analysis and thorough preparation drawing on our global network, offshore wind can make a significant contribution to ensuring that clean energy plays the dominant role in supplying India’s growing energy needs,” said Steve Sawyer, G.W.E.C. secretary general.
Aside from G.W.E.C., project partners include South-East Asian think tank; the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy; ship and offshore classification society DNV GL; Indian power company Gujarat Power Corporation Limited; and the non-profit World Institute of Sustainable Energy.
The project will work in close cooperation with India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, as well as state governments and other relevant offices of the Indian Government.
«The Offshore Wind Power Development project supported by European Union’s Indo-European Cooperation on Renewable Energy programme falls perfectly in line with the vision of the Government of India for development of offshore wind power in the country,” said Alok Srivastava, joint secretary of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy.
According to Mr. Srivastava, the project comes at a time and is in line with the Ministry’s plans to introduce India’s National Offshore Wind Energy Policy.
The specific objectives of the project will be to create an enabling environment for offshore wind through resource mapping and policy guidance, and capacity building measures. The project also seeks to assess the infrastructure base and identify improvements needed to better facilitate the development of offshore projects.
The project will also build partnerships at a technical, policy and research level within India and between India and E.U. companies, research groups and institutions.
«We in Europe are committed towards reducing emissions and moving towards sustainable forms of energy, thereby lowering the dependency on fossil fuels and working towards a cleaner climate. This project on Wind energy in partnership with our Indian counterparts is driven by the same philosophy – secure, affordable and clean energy for all,» said Dr. João Cravinho, ambassador of the E.U.
As a relatively new technology, the capital costs for offshore wind are high and there is a great deal of technical and management learning required to bring costs down to a competitive level.
Currently, most of the 6 gigawatt capacity of offshore wind developed globally is within the E.U. – in the North, Baltic and Irish Seas. The only other substantial market is China. This gives the E.U. a unique perspective into the industry that can be leveraged to help India develop their own projects. – EcoSeed Staff
