UK Helps Develop India’s Offshore Wind, First Tendering Process Expected in 2018

UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office is funding a project under which a consortium of three British consultancies will support the Government of India in setting up its offshore wind industry.

IT Power Consulting, CmY Consultants and SeaChange Offshore will deliver a 10-month long project that is focusing on the delivery of a concession competition process for new offshore wind projects and a financial model to better estimate the costs of future Indian offshore wind farms.

The Government of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has been developing a policy dedicated to offshore wind for the past few years and had this approved by the Cabinet in September 2015.

With the policy now in place, the companies will help MNRE better understand project costs and the requirements of project developers, and spend time engaging with the local industry to obtain feedback on the competition process and to determine the level of interest in offshore wind projects in India.

MNRE and the nodal agency, National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), are taking a strategic approach in the formation of the industry and will use the coming two years to collect offshore wind measurements and gather site data to help plan the first projects and future pipeline.

It is currently anticipated that the competition for the first offshore wind projects will start in early 2018 and be open to both international and local applicants.

The consultancy consortium said that its current project intends to consult industry in the coming months and will soon publish details on how companies can register their interest to be part of this consultation.