India Launches 4 GW Offshore Wind Tender

February 5, 2024, by Adnan Memija

The Government of India has invited bids for the development of offshore wind with a total capacity of 4 GW off the coast of Tamil Nadu.

The bids invited are for four blocks of 1 GW each on an open access basis, for the development of offshore wind projects off the coast of Tamil Nadu, through international competitive bidding.

The developers who win the bid for each block will set up 1 GW offshore wind capacity and sell electricity directly to consumers under the open access regime, according to India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

“No Viability Gap Funding (VGF) is given under the open access bids, and the Renewable Energy generated will be sold to entities such as industries which are currently in the high-tariff band,” MNRE said.

The bids have been invited through Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a government-owned company under MNRE.

The date of the pre-bid meeting is 4 March while the last date of bid submission is 2 May.

The bid announcement follows another public notice published by MNRE in September 2023 when the government announced its plans to issue a call for seven locations off the Tamil Nadu region in the south of the country, with the proposed zones covering an area of 1,443 square kilometres, capable of supporting more than 7 GW of capacity.

With four areas already announced, the remaining three are planned to be put on offer in 2025.

Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the Government of India intends to provide Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for an initial 1 GW of offshore wind capacity. The announcement was made as part of the country’s interim budget.

However, no further details were provided about this scheme in the budget.

In August 2023, MNRE released a new strategy that details the areas to be awarded and also proposes auction models to allocate sites for the development and construction of offshore wind projects.

The zones and sites identified by MNRE and the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) are estimated to have the potential to house a total of around 14 GW of installed offshore wind capacity, with a further 22 GW estimated to be available to be tapped into through unsolicited lease requests.