German energy giant RWE announced days ago that it has signed a MOU with India-based Tata Power Renewable Energy on co-developing the offshore wind power market of India.
RWE Renewables CEO Sven Utermöhlen pointed out from the statement that the abundance of wind energy resources of India is able to fulfill the country’s growing energy demand, where vivid regulations and tender programs would generate sufficient dynamics for India’s offshore wind power industry.
India has been cultivating onshore wind power for a long time, and has to start from zero now since the country aims to arrive at 30GW of installed capacity in offshore wind power by 2030. The country measures at approximately 7,600km in coastline, with no offshore wind farms right now. RWE and Tata Power Renewable Energy commented that the Indian government is currently probing into technical studies and stipulating regulations in the hopes of convening the first offshore wind power auction at Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
Utermöhlen also added that technical and commercial evaluation will also be conducted soon to facilitate the establishment of an offshore wind power market, while evaluation on India’s offshore wind power supply chain, as well as key infrastructures such as ports and grids, will also be executed.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (India) hopes to attain 500GW of installed capacity in non-fossil fuel energy by 2030. Despite such enormous target, India is still relatively dependent on fossil fuels, which occupied 59.8% as of December 31st 2021 according to power information.
India is reluctant in giving up fossil fuels. Major coal-firing countries, such as India and China, had insisted to alter their key words in coal-fired power generation from “phase out” to “phase down” at COP26 in 2021.
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi commented at the Sustainable Development Summit last week that environmental sustainability would only be possible through climate justice. The energy demand in India is expected to grow twofold in the next two decades, and denial on coal is denial on the life source of millions of people in the country.
(Cover photo source: pixabay)