Centre sets the ball rolling for offshore wind projects

livemint.com:

renewable energy has sought bids to survey sites identified for offshore wind power projects in Tamil Nadu. A notification released by the ministry showed that the government plans to bid out projects of 4GW capacity on 1 December. Further, in the next financial year, it plans to bid out projects with a total capacity of 3GW.

The government will bid out sites for offshore wind power projects through two models. In one model, the government will provide viability gap funding, and in the other, identified offshore wind sites will be leased out under competitive bidding for carrying out studies and surveys and subsequent project development without any central financial assistance. The bids for the study of the sites have been called for the second model where financial support is not available.

Under this model, sites are proposed to be allocated for a period of two years to carry out the survey. The development of offshore wind energy projects shall be taken up by the selected offshore wind power developer (OWPD) after the survey period, and the power offtake will be the responsibility of the OWPD, either used for captive consumption under the open access mechanism or sold to any entity through a bilateral power purchase agreement (PPA) or sold through power exchanges. The government may also call for bids for procurement of power for distribution companies based on tariffs after two years, the notification said.