Establishment of offshore wind farm in India: a concept paper

Introduction
Off shore wind farming has become viable as well as proven technology both in Europe and China
lately because of higher plant load factor (PLF) when compared to the PLF of wind farms on land.
Moreover, the availability of land areas with good winds are reducing in our country, and also it is
becoming increasingly challenging for the acquisition of land, logistic management together with the
power evacuation. The land issues onshore no doubt adds to the capital and operational cost and also
reduces the growth rate of installation/ commissioning. In offshore, there are advantages of a calm ,
steady and less turbulent wind flow, conducive to wind electric power operation with occasional perils
of storms and cyclone which pose challenges to the design and development of off shore wind farms

International status
Globally Europe has a strong position in the market sector: worldwide, the European wind turbine
manufacturing industry has a market share of 80%,and for offshore this rises to 100%. The North Sea
Region in Europe is the global leader in offshore wind(see Fig.1), both in installed(1515 MW as on
Sept 2010) and planned capacity and capability. If the offshore wind market in the EU grows by the
same rate as its on shore industry, 50 GW of offshore wind power will be operating in Europe by 2020.

Recent advances in bankable technologies in offshore wind energy, specifically in Europe which has
about 948 off shore wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 2396 MW have made it possible to
apply the same technologies in countries like USA, India and China. World over, there are about
4464MW of offshore wind power projects either pending or under various stages of execution in
Denmark (386MW), Germany (400MW), Netherlands (280MW), UK (2630MW), USA (468MW) and
China (300MW). Even as technology leaders, Germany is successfully commissioning its first wind
farm offshore this year, after a decade of hard work. While China has already successfully installed 102
MW(34 nos x 3 MW), but India, by virtue of being second largest supplier of carbon credits (CRR) after
China, is seriously looking forward for possible offshore wind farm development.

Indian efforts on WRA (by MNRE /C-WET)

India is blessed with a coastline of 7600 km and exclusive economic zone of about 2 million square
km. Under the national wind monitoring programme winds have been measured by C-WET at 54
locations on the coast line. Some of the other available wind resource details are given as Tables in
Fig.2 and Fig.3. The Southern tip of India starting from Kanyakumari, Gulf of Mannar and up to
Rameshwaram has shown some promising values. Rameshwaram indicates wind power density of
303 W/m2 at 50m a.g.l. and Kanyakumari has shown wind power density of 370 W/m 2 at 30m a.g.l.
The coast line around Gujarat has reasonable potential but it is prone to cyclonic conditions that can
be severe.

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Fig. 1 Installed and planned capacities of Offshore Wind Power in Europe

Fig. 2 Table of measured wind resource data along some ports in the Indian coast

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Fig. 3 Probability distribution of wind speeds and direction (wind rose) on the ports

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Fig. 4 CWETs wind resource measurements at Dhanuskoti (Rameshwaram) using mast and SODAR
C-WET has undertaken preliminary studies using SODAR (Fig.4) near Dhanushkodi (Rameshwaram),
which is a narrow piece of land jutting towards Sri Lanka and the preliminary measurements indicate
wind speeds ranging from 6-27 m/s. Accordingly C-WET has decided to install a 100 m mast at
Rameshwaram, Ramanathapuram District in Tamilnadu with an objective to further examine the
feasibility (wind speed/ direction) of setting up of offshore wind farm in and around the long stretch
jutting towards Sri Lanka. CWET also measured wind resource at cape of Kanyakumari (Fig.5)

Fig.5 CWETs wind resource measurements at Cape of Kanyakumari using mast

Based on the earlier recorded observations and to further gain confidence on the results, C-WET has
also signed an MoU with Riso / DTU to undertake satellite based assessment at Kanyakumari, Gulf of
Mannar, and Rameshwaram. The idea is to collect wind data above the sea surface and convert the
same to 10 m height to assess the offshore wind potential in the said location using synthetic aperture
radar (SAR) technique using satellite imageries. C-WET is also planning to undertake LIDAR
(Laser/Light Detection and Ranging) measurements which will be suitable for SAR-data validation
along the height.

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MNRE/C-WET has special collaboration with Scotland for offshore wind power project development in
India and critically discussed the relevant issues with all stake holders during a one day Indo-Scottish
workshop at C-WET, Chennai. There is growing interest among the public sector companies like NTPC,
ONGC, IOCL to assist and get associated with offshore wind power projects, in addition to a private
company called Green Shore Energy Pvt. Ltd., from Bengaluru. and M/s Suzlon, Indias major market
player onshore have also evinced keen interest in offshore projects in India.

METHODOLOGY /WAY FORWARD

The methodology and expertise to derive technical and economic strategies for the exploitation of the
off shore wind farming along the Indian coastline are detailed as under:

1. Wind resource assessment

Three main methodologies that can be adopted for the assessment of off shore wind energy
resources are either use existing data or perform local measurements.
Statistical analysis of measured meteorological data. Existing data if it is not
representative adopt suitable correction techniques (WASP). Measured data may be
conditioned using MCP (Measure Correlate & Predict) techniques to account for long
term variation.
Numerical simulation technology
Satellite remote sensing technology
The wind resource maps can be used to focus on the potential areas for the remainder of the
study.

2. Environmental and technical constraints

Key planning and environmental constraints to be considered at each location with regard to
water depth, soil conditions, environmental issues and the following constraints:
Bathymetry
tidal range and metocean constraints
seabed conditions
shipping constraints
military constraints
radar constraints
distance to shore etc.
The assessment of these factors will depend on the availability of data. Key players such as
military authorities, port authorities, coastguards,oil/ telecommunication companies,
relevant government agencies, wind turbine manufacturers and relevant construction
companies may also have to be approached for their views on offshore wind farm
development in the region.

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3. Grid constraints and Power evacuation
A review of the grid connection options will have to be performed based on distance of land
to offshore, with cable route options, technical options (AC/DC) and information collected
from EB/utility. It is not only the sub- sea cabling to transmit power to land which needs to be
addressed, but also the up-scaling of the existing transmission/distribution system needs
serious attention.

4. Construction strategies
Construction of offshore wind farms is significantly more complex than an equivalent on shore
project. Issues that need to be reviewed are;
Foundation requirements appropriate to water depths
Piling capacities and equipment for different sub-marine soil conditions
Special Vessel requirements for transporting for large fabricated
segments/components from shore
Weather windows and all weather compliant floating erection cranes and skilled team.
location of suitable ports for construction and operation for continuous logistic
support

5. Economic benefits and financial modelling

The project specific economic implications of offshore wind development at the specified
regions need to be investigated. Thorough study of capital expenditure, operational
expenditure, expected O&M costs, wind farm power production and long term power purchase
agreements (PPA) will be required. Financial incentive schemes need to be reviewed in order
to identify the most appropriate scheme for off shore wind industry in India. While the
onshore wind projects could be proved to the investors as well as Electricity Boards/utilities
with only a few wind turbines in demonstration wind farms, considering the risk factors (1 &
2) and high cost of Grid (3) and construction (4), the financial models for offshore would show
up economic benefits only if the projects are of large scale viz. 100s of mega watts (multi-mega
watt)

6. Assessment and ranking of sites by a single window approach

The assessed off shore regions can be ranked in terms of
potential off shore capacity
potential wind resource
technical and environmental constraints

This will allow resources and efforts to be concentrated on the most advantageous regions of
India's coastline. Accurate wind resource offshore may have to be carried out by even
private/public developers and later vetted/verified by Government Agencies to kick start
offshore wind power projects.

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 For assessment of the aforementioned factors(Sl. no. 1 to 6), a Detailed Project Report has to
be prepared based on access to relevant data sources for wind resource, technical and
environmental constraints together with grid constraints. The developmental aspects towards
aforesaid activities will involve knowledge pooling from our research institutions like National
Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa and INCOIS Hyderabad for oceanographic studies, Data
acquisition , collation and correlation and National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT),
Chennai for subsea structures like Foundations, Submersible Cable Laying etc.

These technical aspects can be studied with inputs received as a core for policy formation with
a set of procedures for single window clearance of projects without which the development
can neither be fast nor continuous. Such clearance under single window approach has been
proved to be highly successful in the North sea and UK and European specially German
offshore wind power project developments recently.

Proposed course of action by MNRE:

To ensure faster pace of offshore development it is proposed to formulate a Steering

Committee by MNRE to decide on the favourable policy framework for offshore, on the model
for executing the said project with public private partnership and incentives to be given and
Secretary, MNRE could chair the Committee (Refer Annexure-1 for the proposed Steering
Committee). The major points of discussion by the high level committee would be as follows:

Comprehensive data overlays using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Sea bed details (bathymetry)

Water depth details

Wind resource details

Maritime/fishing activity

Cyclonic frequencies

Distance to load centres for power evacuation

Logistic support of ports and harbours and access road-infrastructure to ports

Formation of a Inter ministerial Agency Like telecom authority TRAI/ CEA /

Studying difficulties of Oil Rigs from private investments.

Comprehensive allocation of sites for exploration of wind power potential

Competitive offer of developmental projects

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 A STRONG POLITICAL WILL & GOVT. POLICY

Bio-sphere protection in mega wind offshore projects

Need for multi-mega watt (100s of MW) projects for economy in scale.

Economic deployment of erection equipment

Need for strategic reinforcement for Investment protection

International standardisation for use of territorial waters

Under sea seismic activity maping

Prioritise the indigenous development even during the feasibility study stage

Indian strengths of engineering and capacity utilisation of offshore expertise from

ONGC/IOCL / RELIANCE and the like from NAVAL PRACTICES

Building up institutional capabilities along with industry partnership (ACTIVE)

Evaluation of possible concepts and innovative designs for its suitability to India-specific
conditions including risks associated with Political/ Economical/societal/ tropical
meteorological/ topographical/ geological/technological/ecological/ environmental/ for
SUSTAINING SUPPLY CHAIN OF ALL MATERIALS/COMPONENTS/SYSTEMS FOR RELIABILITY
of offshore WEGs.

INDIAN EFFORTS ON WRA (BY MNRE /C-WET)

The information collected during the meet would be useful for CWET when it carries out the
feasibility study on Off-shore Wind Energy Power Project in India in collaboration with
Scotland. C-WET, Chennai will carry out the study on behalf of MNRE.

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 Annexure-1

Sl.No. Members from

1. Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Chairman
1. Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forest Member
2. Secretary, Ministry of Shipping Member
3. Secretary, Ministry of Defence Member
(or)
Representative from Joint Chief of Army Staff
4. Secretary, Ministry of Home (or) Director General, Coast Guard Member
5. Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences
(or)
Director, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services
(INCOIS)
(or)
Director, National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR)
(or)
Director, National Institute of Ocean Technology
5. Director General of Lighthouse /ships Member
6. Tamilnadu Maritime Board Member
7. Gujarat Maritime Board Member
8. Chairman of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board Member
9. Chairman of Gujarat Electricity Board Member
10. Dr. Kota Harinarayana, Chairman, Research & Development Council, Member
C-WET
11. Executive Director, C-WET Member
12. Secretary, Ministry of Telecommunications Member
13. Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural gas Member
13. Director, MNRE (Wind) Member
-Secretar
y
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* Industry participation may be invited as per need basis.

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