India sets 30 GW offshore wind target by 2030

The Indian government on Tuesday announced it has set medium- and long-term targets for offshore wind power installations, aspiring to achieve 5 GW of capacity by 2022 and 30 GW by 2030.

The government said the targets are designed to give confidence to the wind industry. They come after the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy earlier this year launched an Expressions of Interest (EoI) invitation for India's first offshore wind project, of 1 GW. The EoI has attracted "keen response" from both the global and domestic industry, the government said on Tuesday.

The offshore wind targets will add to the Indian government's objective to reach 60 GW of onshore wind and 100 GW solar by 2022.

The government noted that preliminary studies have pointed to good potential for offshore wind around the southern tip of the Indian peninsula and the west coast and said that there are plans for surveys to study the oceanographic and seabed conditions in identified zones off Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. A LiDAR has been gathering offshore wind data near the Gujarat coast since November 2017 as part of the Facilitating Offshore Wind in India (FOWIND) project and a private sector player -- Indian wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy Ltd (BOM:532667) -- has also installed a LiDAR off Gujarat. According to the announcement, more such devices are planned in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

At the end of 2017, renewable energy minister Raj Kumar Singh reportedly said that the government plans to launch offshore wind tenders for at least 5 GW in 2018.

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