Tangedco wants energy generated from offshore windmills

CHENNAI: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued a draft tender to select wind power developers for leasing sea-bed areas to develop 4000 MW of offshore wind power projects off the coast of Tamil Nadu.

The energy generated from offshore wind power projects is to be consumed in captive mode or sold to third parties under open access framework or sold through merchant sale or power exchange, according to the draft tender prepared by the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE).

The identified offshore wind sub-blocks B1, B2, B3, B4 and G1 off the coast of Tamil Nadu in the Gulf of Mannar will be leased out for offshore wind projects and the selected developer will have the exclusive rights over the allocated sea block to carry out required study survey and subsequent project development in accordance with this tender and lease agreement.

The evacuation of power – from the offshore pooling delivery point to the onshore meeting or interconnection point – will be the responsibility of the central transmission utility (CTU) for all offshore wind project development models. However, a senior Tangedco official said that they wanted Tamil Nadu should be given priority for the offshore wind projects being set up on its coast. “We want to utilise the power generated from the offshore windmills for our own use. But the MNRE released draft wanted the power to be evacuated through the central grid. We are opposing it,” the official said.

Sources in the wind energy sector said that the energy generated from offshore windmills would be Rs 8-9 per unit if the project was developed without viability gap funding. “The cost of power will be too high and no one will buy it,” a wind energy expert said.

MNRE plans to enter into a survey lease deed with successful bidders for a period of up to seven years to allow the selected bidders to carry out study surveys and development activities necessary to prepare a detailed project report and advance a project to financial close.

The next step in the procedure would be the signing of a 35-year construction and operation lease deed and a 35-year concession agreement. The 35-year term covers the project construction and decommissioning periods. This will be the first of eight rounds planned to be held over the next eight years as India plans to auction areas offshore the states of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat each year until 2030.