First wind turbines could be installed offshore India by as early as 2020, however, several pre-conditions must be met for this to be achieved, Steve Sawyer, Secretary General of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) said.
GWEC is leading the Facilitating Offshore Wind in India (FOWIND) project which focuses on the States of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu for identification of potential zones for offshore wind development.
India needs to establish certain regulatory frameworks before moving to the next stage, which would be tendering for projects, Sawyer said. GWEC expects this to happen by 2019 or 2020, with the build-out to follow shortly after that.
With regards to the infrastructure, Sawyer said that India’s current grid can handle the two 500MW offshore wind projects proposed off the two states, but if offshore wind is to develop from there and get much larger, the grid would need to be upgraded, as well as the country’s port infrastructure.
Watch our Expertise Hub video to learn more about GWEC’s activities in India, the next offshore wind hot spots, and what is needed for floating wind to truly take off.
For more Expertise Hub interviews, visit Navingo’s Offshore WIND channel on Vimeo .