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Offshore Wind

Central Electricity Authority, Danish Energy Agency, and COWI under the India-Denmark Energy Partnership published an Indian Technology Catalogue in January 2022. The report highlights that the Indian monsoon season from June to September would see higher output from offshore wind projects compared with other parts of the year. The seasonal profile of offshore wind is complementary to that of solar PV, which tends to produce less during the season of monsoons.

However, the installation and maintenance costs of offshore wind projects are significantly higher compared to onshore wind and offshore wind farms must also withstand the harsh marine environment.

It was also highlighted that technology innovation has led to an increase in offshore turbine size in terms of tip height and swept area, and this has raised their maximum output. The rotor diameter of commercially available offshore turbines increased from just over 90 meters (m) in 2010 (3 MW turbine) to more than 164 m in 2016 (8 MW turbine) while the swept area increased by 230%. The average size of offshore wind turbines grew by a factor of 3.4 in less than two decades and is expected to continue to grow, with 15-20 MW turbines expected by 2030.

Floating offshore wind, a technology currently under research and development with few pilot projects completed is significantly more expensive than offshore wind in shallower waters but has vast potential. Floating foundations would allow the harnessing of untapped wind resources located in regions with water depths exceeding 50-60m. International Energy Agency estimates that the floating offshore wind potential worldwide is 330,000 TWh/year, almost four times bigger than offshore in shallow water (87,000 TWh/year)

Source: Indian Technology Catalogue – Generation and Storage of Electricity, January 2022

Link: (https://cea.nic.in/wp-content/uploads/irp/2022/02/First_Indian_Technology_Catalogue_Generation_and_Storage_of_Electricity-2.pdf)

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