Offshore Wind Projects Not Feasible In Karnataka: Govt

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in its latest statement before the Parliament claimed that the pre-existing geographical conditions in Karnataka do not support the development of offshore wind projects in the region. Shripad Yesso Naik, the Minister of State (MoS) of the ministry, informed the House about the feasibility studies done in the state.

The minister said that the studies have already been conducted in the state to check the feasibility of offshore wind projects in the state. “Based on the preliminary studies carried out by the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) in collaboration with various multilateral agencies, the Government has identified eight zones, each off the coast of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu as initial priority offshore wind energy zones,” the minister said.

He also added that NIWE has done preliminary offshore wind resource mapping along the entire Indian coastline, including Karnataka up to 200 nautical miles (nm) from the shore. 

“As per the mesoscale data, the annual average wind speed along the Karnataka coast is in the range of 5 5.2 m/s, which is considered as low speed for the development of offshore wind energy projects. Owing to low wind speed along the Karnataka coast, further studies such as geophysical surveys and LiDAR installations have not been proposed,” the minister told the House.

As per the ministry, the government has carried out feasibility studies for the offshore wind farms development off the coast of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu under the Facilitating Offshore Wind Energy in India (FOWIND) program supported by the European Union.   

“For pilot projects, a “Viability Gap Funding (VGF) Scheme for Offshore Wind Energy Projects' has been launched for the installation and commissioning of 1000 MW offshore wind projects (500 MW each off the coast of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu),” he added.