Facilitating Offshore Wind in India (FOWIND)

The EU Delegation to India in close cooperation with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, awarded a €4 million grant to a GWEC-led consortium under the Indo-European Cooperation on Renewable Energy programme. The FOWIND project sought to facilitate India’s transition towards low carbon development by supporting the implementation of national policies and programmes for offshore wind, with a special focus on the states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

As part of the consortium, WISE was entrusted with assisting and coordinating offshore wind development with the state government of Gujarat and it played an instrumental role in bringing the Government of Gujarat as co-grantor for the project. WISE also developed a project management office on its premises in Pune for this purpose and supported the consortium lead, GWEC, and other technical partners on key project deliverables, including preparation of pre-feasibility and final feasibility reports for 500 MW offshore wind capacity and associated offshore policy briefs and other technical papers on manufacturing, supply chain, grid integration, etc. On the implementation side, WISE took the lead in implementing project activities related to LIDAR selection, offshore structure selection, government coordination for offshore permits, and site visits and installation of LIDAR for measuring offshore wind resources in the Gulf of Cambay, Gujarat. The LIDAR was installed in 2017 and the wind resource readings are expected to provide valuable guidance to the on-site installation of the first offshore wind power project in India.

The project helped create more visibility and acceptance for offshore wind among policymakers and regulators. The project report deliverables in the areas of technology integration, supply chain, policy and grid infrastructure spurred new interest and investments in the field of offshore wind in India.

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