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Offshore wind power has a lot of promise
Nearly three years after the announcement of the national offshore wind energy policy in 2015, some action finally seems underway to harness this source of clean power. Recently, the government firmed up the target to produce 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power by 2030 and 5 GW by 2022. Earlier, the “expressions of interest” invited for setting up a 1,000-megawatt offshore wind power plant off the Gujarat coast had yielded encouraging results. About 35 major players in the offshore wind energy sector, global as well as local, had responded to this move by the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), which has been designated the official agency to develop offshore wind power. Clearly, there is unlikely to be any dearth of private investment in this area if the power tariffs and the overall policy environment remain favourable. The government has done well to assure a level-playing field to all investors, domestic and international.
Though the overall target for offshore wind power generation seems rather ambitious, considering that only around 32.7 GW capacity could be created in the onshore wind energy sector till now, the need to aim high cannot be disputed. The enormous energy generation potential of the oceanic winds in India’s exclusive economic zone along the 7,600-km coastline has so far remained totally untapped though many other countries have gone far ahead in this field. India, being a late starter, needs to take big strides to narrow the gap and also meet its goals of nonconventional energy. Preliminary investigations by the NIWE have established substantial scope for wind power production off the coasts of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Maharashtra. More such intensive sea wind zones may be discovered in future.
Offshore wind power scores over its onshore counterpart in several respects despite the higher initial cost. Power output from these plants is steady, almost free from interruption. In fact, it tends to increase a tad in the evenings to coincide with peak consumer demand. Per unit power production in the offshore plants is also relatively high. The maintenance cost is low. India, moreover, already has a strong wind power equipment manufacturing base, although such facilities would need to be revamped. Most importantly, offshore windmills do not need land, the acquisition of which generally proves the bane of most terrestrial infrastructure projects. Offshore wind power is, therefore, ideally suited for a land-short country like India.
On the cost front, too, there is a significant redeeming feature. Like the other renewable energy areas, the offshore wind energy sector is also witnessing a constant inflow of new cost-cutting and output-enhancing technologies to improve its competitiveness vis-à-vis the conventional fossil fuels-based power sector. Multinational players in the offshore wind power field can be expected to bring in — and regularly update — the technology to sustain the economic viability of these ventures. However, measures would need to be taken to ensure that the renewable power tariffs do not fall below the remunerative threshold. Otherwise, the investors would lose interest in offshore wind power.