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.