DNV GL has completed the final reports in the four-year Facilitating Offshore Wind in India (FOWIND) project focused on identifying the potential for offshore wind development in the states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
Several technically rigorous milestone reports were delivered to enable the Government of India and its stakeholders to bring the offshore wind market closer to fruition, DNV GL, the technical partner of the project, said.
According to the Norway-based certification body, the companies and government institutions now have a starting point for future offshore front-end engineering design (FEED) studies thanks to a concept design for a demonstration project of 150MW to 504MW in Zone A, the most promising offshore wind development area in the two states.
DNV GL said that the concept designs and outline project costings were performed using its Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE) design tool, Turbine.Architect.
Co-funded by the European Union, GPCL and ReNew Power, the FOWIND project investigates the offshore wind potential in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu through preliminary resource and feasibility assessments, as well as through techno-commercial analysis and preliminary resource assessment.
“At the start of this project nearly four years ago, offshore wind in India was no more than a distant vision. Today however, India has a specific offshore wind policy, a government actively ’gearing up’ for offshore and local and overseas stakeholders pro-actively considering this new endeavor. These are significant steps to a greener energy future for India,” said Ditlev Engel , CEO DNV GL – Energy.
At the end of last year, India’s New & Renewable Energy Minister Raj Kumar Singh announced that the government will invite the first tenders for building offshore wind farms in 2018 with plans to auction as much as 5GW.