India to Install First Offshore Wind Turbine in 5 Years

In the forthcoming five years India will have its first offshore windmill, located in Dhanushkodi, executive director of Centre for Wind Energy Technology, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Dr S Gomathi Nayagam announced at a two day conference on renewable energy held in Chennai last week, IBN Live informs.

According to him, India will avail of the German experience in building offshore windmills and thus be able to save time and resources in the construction process. Nevertheless, the said location that coveres 9km of narrow strip on the sea will require specific solutions when it comes to design. Namely, the technological patterns employed by the West where the wind speed reaches 12-17 metres per second are inadequate for the Indian sites, since the wind speed does not surpass 6-7 metres per second.

“Currently a 100 metre mast is being built to measure the wind upto seven levels and Scottish Development International is helping us with the project,” Nayagam said.

On April 4 a non-profit action research think tank of Indian Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) based in Chennai in cooperation with Friedrich Naumann Stiftung für die Freiheit organized a two day conference dubbed “Renewable Energy Sector Policy Challenges-Intention, Incentive, Implementation and Impact”.

The conference served as an occasion for the release of a study entitled “Atlas of Household Energy Consumption and Expenditure in India”. The study represents a comprehensive outlook of household energy data consumption across India in addition to an increase in activity for the development of new renewable energy technologies, products and services.

In that respect development of offshore energy, which can generate about 30% more power for the same capacity as compared to onshore projects, will pave the way for meeting growing energy needs in India.

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Offshore WIND staff, April 09, 2012; Image: ese.iitb