India is at the frontline of global climate action as one of the top countries in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission production and its goal of achieving net zero by 2070. India has already reached almost 42GW of on-grid and off-grid onshore wind capacity in 2022, making it the fourth largest installed global wind market after China, United States of America, and Germany.
India aims to increase the capacity of onshore and offshore wind
to 110GW and 30GW by 2030 respectively. Almost 18% of onshore wind capacity
will be installed in 2029-2030 to confirm an optimal generation capacity mix.
India’s wind capacity addition will drop almost 19% in 2023 compared
to 2022, due to hindering India’s implementation to decarbonise the power
sector, as well as other sectors such as heavy industry and transport.
Annual wind capacity additions will remain stable at the 2023
level, adding 10% year by year from 48GW during 2023-2026. However, the average
annual additions could double with higher allocations in wind auctions
accompanied by accelerated grid expansion and policies facilitating land
acquisition.
Onshore wind power generation in India is expected to reach 105GW
by 2026, 32% higher than produced wind energy in 2020. The total wind capacity
of the country will increase 10% year by year to reach 48GW by 2023 and nearly 60GW
by 2026.

Tender for 4GW Offshore Wind Leases & Identifying 15
Offshore Wind Sites in India
India has released a draft tender for seabed leases that could
generate up to 4GW of offshore wind energy off the country’s south coast. New
Delhi is planning to auction 4GW of capacity in waters offshore Tamil Nadu and requested
industry feedback by the end of November.
The identified seabed areas
include offshore wind sub-blocks B1, B2, B3, B4 and G1 off the coast of Tamil
Nadu in the Gulf of Mannar. Under the draft proposals, developers will be
invited to bid to secure development rights across five blocks ranging from
655MW to 912MW in size. However, final capacities could be modified subject to
final permits being granted.
The sites are between 10km
and 39km from the shoreline in water depths between 20 and 50m. Average wind
speeds total 10-11m per second. The auction is likely to attract international
bidders. Earlier this year, Germany's RWE signed a MoU to jointly explore
offshore wind development in India with Tata Power.

The Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and the
Danish Energy Agency (DEA) have published a conceptual plan with a pipeline
identifying 15 locations for offshore wind in India. The joint study provides 4
selected zones off the coast of Tamil Nadu and one zone off the coast of
Gujarat, which was presented at an event in Chennai, India.
Both parties have
presented a viability assessment of existing port infrastructure in proximity
to the coasts of the two states, including recommendations for upgrades and
development. Four initial sites in Tamil Nadu for the first auction of 4GW
equivalent seabed in 2022-2023, according to the joint report.
The joint projects on maritime spatial planning and port
infrastructure have prepared significant inputs for the draft tender document
that is currently under stakeholder consultation as well as the upcoming
tenders for offshore wind in India, according to a statement by the Joint
Secretary of the, MNRE.
It is also believed that the Danish approach and experience
have been very helpful to advance the project and has brought great value to
take us forward and reach 30GW of wind energy by 2030.
In 2020, Siemens Gamesa supplied almost half of the wind
turbines in India. General Electric (GE) and Vestas have almost 20% and 9% of
turbine manufacturing market share respectively. The rest of installed turbines
have been fabricated mainly by Indian wind turbine manufacturers Suzlon and
Inox Wind.

JSW to Buy 1.75GW Renewables Assets
Indian power company, JSW Energy, plans to buy a portfolio of
1.75GW wind and solar capacity from Indian power producer Mytrah Energy. JSW
has signed to acquire 17 special purpose vehicles (SPVs) and one ancillary SPV
for INR105.3b (US$1.32bn).
The Mytrah portfolio includes 10 wind SPVs for 1,331MW
and seven solar SPVs for 422MW, operating primarily in the southern, western
and central parts of India, JSW Energy said.
JSW Energy aims to increase the capacity of its operational
portfolio to 6,537MW from today’s 4,784MW. For this purpose, the company plans
to add around 2,500MW of wind power capacity.
The company announced that the projects likely to be
commissioned in phases over the next 18-24 months. “We are excited to acquire
Mytrah’s 1.75 GW of renewable energy portfolio which is value accretive to our
shareholders on day one,” commented Prashant Jain, joint managing director and
CEO of JSW Energy.

With almost 7,600km of coastline on three sides and good sources
to harness offshore wind energy, India notified its National offshore wind
energy policy on 6th October 2015. The policy was designed to develop and use maritime
space within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the country and is responsible for overall monitoring of offshore wind energy development in the
country.
Total wind energy potential is estimated at over 300GW at 100m and
nearly 700GW at 120m hub height, according to the recent National Institute of
Wind Energy (NIWE) report. Offshore wind turbines are in the range of 5-10MW
per turbine, much larger in size against 2-3MW of an onshore wind turbine.