2,000 MW offshore wind energy projects to come up in India

Union Minister for Power and MNRE Shri R.K Singh chaired the “India Energy Spotlight” session held at the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) – Mission Innovation (MI) Senior officials meeting held in New Delhi recently.

In his keynote address, Shri R.K Singh said that in the present scenario, our major concerns are climate change and environmental degradation and the only way to cater such issues is energy transition. We have been walking on the path of energy transition and have managed to bring our country from power deficit to power surplus.

The Minister informed that we have managed to bring down Emission Intensity to a great extent. For achieving the goal of Energy Efficiency, we have taken many initiatives like Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) and Eco Niwas Samhita (ENS) for Commercial and Residential Buildings. With such steps we are way beyond the trajectories which we promised to achieve in these years, he added.

While addressing the Clean Energy Ministerial Meeting of senior officials theminister informed that bids for 2,000 MW offshore wind energy projects in India will be invited soon and he requested global investors to participate and invest in the offshore wind projects.

India has no offshore capacity at present. RK Singh said, “Our journey is incomplete without offshore wind energy. We will bring bids for 1,000 MW in Gujarat and after that 1,000 MW in Tamil Nadu.”

RK Singh also held that India also looks to boost green hydrogen production capacity in the country. The Power Minister apprised of the government’s plan to invite tenders for 9GW electrolyzer manufacturing. RK Singh also requested the international community to finance storage and clean energy projects by creating a fund.

RK Singh also said that the present clean energy capacity of India stands at 160 GW and if there was no pandemic, the clean energy capacity could have been 10 to 15 GW more.

According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, (MNRE), India had installed capacity of 39.25 GW of wind energy at the end of March 2021 which makes the country fourth highest wind capacity installer in the world. The country has also generated more than 60 billion units during 2020-21. The Ministry says that India’s wind energy sector is led by indigenous wind power industry and the expansion of the wind industry has resulted in a strong ecosystem. The country has project operation capabilities and a manufacturing base of about 10,000 MW per annum.

The National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) has installed more than 800 wind monitoring stations all over the country and the recent assessment indicates a gross wind power potential of 302 GW in India at 100 meter and 695.50 GW at 120 meter above ground level.

The opening session held dealt with the “Transition Agenda” that was followed by discussions on topics such as Clean Power, Green Steel, and Hydrogen. The Government of India and the United Kingdom lead the plenary dialogue on the future of Energy Transition. The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) is a high-level global forum of 29 member countries to promote policies and programs that advance clean energy technology through sharing of knowledge and best practices with a focus on transition to a global clean energy future. It brings together the world’s leading economies, international organisations and companies to achieve a single mission that is to accelerate clean energy transitions.