India plans to leverage scale to bring down offshore energy tariffs by harnessing the enormous wind power potential along its 7,600km coastline. “The National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), an autonomous body under the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE), has called for ‘Expression of Interest’ (EoI) for the first offshore wind energy project of India,” the government said in a statement on Wednesday evening. In September 2015, the Union cabinet had cleared the National Offshore Wind Energy Policy, which involves wind energy mapping of the country to identify high-potential locations to be offered to firms for development through a bidding process. Earlier this month tariffs remained low, with bidders quoting wind power tariffs as low as Rs2.51 per unit for 2GW of wind power contracts. In the wind auction conducted by state-run Solar Energy Corp. of India (SECI) in February, bidders had quoted wind tariffs as low as Rs2.44 per unit for wind power contracts.

Source: Mint April 12, 2018 06:00 UTC