Denmark Helps India Identify 15 Offshore Wind Zones

November 24, 2022, by Aida Čučuk

The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) and the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) have published a conceptual offshore wind plan for 15 locations in India under their joint initiative, the Centre of Excellence for Offshore Wind and Renewable Energy.

The study, presented at an event in Chennai, India, on 23 November and based on Denmark’s approach to maritime spatial planning for offshore wind, provides a plan for 14 selected zones off the coast of Tamil Nadu and one zone off the coast of Gujarat.

At the event, the two parties presented a viability assessment of existing port infrastructure in proximity to the coasts of the two states, including recommendations for upgrades and development.

The presented plan provides input to the draft tender document released by MNRE on 14 November, including further details on the exact locations of the first 4 GW in Tamil Nadu.

“The joint projects on maritime spatial planning and port infrastructure have provided significant inputs for the draft tender document that is currently under stakeholder consultation as well as the upcoming tenders for offshore wind in India. The Danish approach and experience has been very helpful to advance this and has brought great value to take us forward and reach 30 GW by 2030,” Mr. Dinesh Jagdale, Joint Secretary for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, said.

The Maritime Spatial Planning, built on the existing work carried out in the EU-supported projects, FOWIND (Facilitating Offshore Wind in India) and FOWPI (First Offshore Wind Project of India), is based on two separate reports, one for Tamil Nadu and one for Gujarat, and both reports focus on the rough and fine screening process in the two states, including heat mapping and conceptual planning basis for the selected zones.

The port infrastructure study is based on the assessment of the viability and possibilities of development of existing ports in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu to support up to 30 GW of offshore wind development using 15+ MW wind turbines.

The new document corresponds to the upcoming offshore wind auction plan announced in the Strategy Paper for Establishment of Offshore Wind Energy Projects released by the Government of India in July 2022.

The Strategy Paper describes three models proposed for the holistic development of offshore wind farms in India and elaborates on the auction plan for offshore wind that was released by the Government of India in June 2022.

According to the new updates, four sites in Tamil Nadu will be up for the first auction of 4 GW equivalent seabed in 2022-2023.

The Indian-Danish initiative aims to support the Indian target of 30 GW offshore wind in 2030, with 25 GW across the identified areas in Tamil Nadu alone.

“The Indian-Danish collaboration on energy has taken remarkable steps and is a key contributor to the Green Strategic Partnership between India and Denmark. Offshore wind will be the next step in India’s green transition and with a clear and strong mandate from our two countries, India and Denmark are leading this green energy transition,“ Mr. H.E. Freddy Svane, Ambassador of Denmark to India, noted.