India and the UK have launched a taskforce that is said to provide strategic leadership and coordination for India’s offshore wind ecosystem. The country has also reportedly started working with the World Bank and KPMG on aspects of offshore wind project planning and financing.
Kicked off on 18 February, the India–UK Offshore Wind Taskforce was established under the Fourth India-UK Energy Dialogue and as part of cooperation through the India-UK Vision 2035 framework, according to the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
The taskforce will focus on coordinating activities between the two governments and relevant stakeholders to accelerate development of offshore wind infrastructure and markets in India.
At the taskforce launch, India’s Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Shri Pralhad Joshi, said that there were three practical pillars for the cooperation: ecosystem planning and market design, infrastructure and supply chains, and financing and risk mitigation.
This includes focusing on refined seabed leasing frameworks and revenue-certainty mechanisms, as well as port modernisation, local manufacturing and specialised vessels, and also blended finance structures and mobilisation of long-term institutional capital.
According to reports by Indian media, the government is trying to make offshore wind projects viable and competitive after initial tender rounds for projects off the Gujarat coast drew no bids.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is reportedly seeking inputs from both the World Bank and KPMG on financial structuring and potential funding scales.
According to business news site Mint , the government has asked the World Bank and KPMG to assess the financial requirements and risk mitigants for offshore wind projects, including evaluating whether the existing Viability Gap Funding (VGF) outlay should be increased to attract private investment.