Offshore Wind Energy

About Viability Gap Funding

• Viability Gap Funding (VGF) aims at supporting infrastructure projects that are economically justified but fall marginally short of financial viability.
• Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in 2005 approved the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) Scheme (Scheme for Financial Support to PPPs in Infrastructure) as a Central Sector Scheme. 
• The scheme is administered by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance
• Support under this scheme is available only for infrastructure projects where private sector sponsors are selected through a process of competitive bidding.

Offshore Wind Energy Projects

Onshore Wind Energy Projects

Offshore wind power refers to wind farms built on shallow bodies of water, usually in the ocean.

Onshore wind power refers to wind turbines constructed and situated on land.

Pros:

• Generates more energy: Offshore turbines generate 1MW more energy than onshore turbines due to larger turbines.
• Efficiency: winds at sea are stronger and blow in the same direction more often than winds on land.
• Less intrusive: have fewer environmental impacts as they don’t affect how towns use their land or create noise pollution.
• Land acquisition issue is absent.

Pros:

• Cost-effective: cheaper compared to offshore with lower infrastructure and maintenance costs.
• Quicker and cheaper installation
• Boosts local economy due to land utilization.
• Lower transmission losses: There is less voltage drop between the wind turbine and the consumer due to less distance.
• Proven technology and reduced wear and tear (low erosion due to less moisture)

Cons:

• Lack dependency and predictability.
• Transmission and distribution process is tedious, time-taking and needs more infrastructure.
• High maintenance costs due to corrosive effect of moisture of seawater and wear and tear from waves.

Cons:

• Can cause discomfort to locals due to noise pollution.
• Reduced efficiency due to unpredictable wind speeds and direction.
• Land availability and landscape considerations limit onshore wind farms.

Government Initiatives

• “National Offshore Wind Energy Policy – 2015”: The policy provides for offshore wind power development up to a seaward distance of 200 nautical miles from the baseline, i.e., up to the country’s EEZ.
  • Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) is the Nodal Ministry, and the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) is the Nodal Agency for the development of Offshore Wind Energy in India.
• Long-term target for off-shore wind power capacity additions is 30 GW by 2030
• Declaration of trajectory for Wind Renewable Purchase Obligation up to the year 2030.

Other related renewable energy mechanisms

• Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy: Promotion of extensive grid-connected wind-solar PV hybrid systems for efficiently utilization of transmission infrastructure and land.
  • Addresses the intermittency challenge of one renewable source, achieving better grid stability through hybridization.
• Ocean Energy: India is estimated to have a potential of around 54 GW of ocean energy.
• Tidal energy: energy produced from the movement of ocean tides. 
  • Estimated potential in India: 12.5 GW
• Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a technology for generating renewable energy that uses the temperature differential between the deep cold and relatively warmer surface waters of the ocean to generate baseload electricity.
• Other technologies: Ocean Salt Gradient Energy, Ocean Wave Energy and Ocean Current Energy