Funding program to cover India’s first two offshore wind projects

The Indian Union Council of Ministers chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi have approved the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme for offshore wind energy projects at a total outlay of INR74.53 billion (US$890 million). This total includes an outlay of INR68.53 million (US$820 million) for installation and commissioning of one GW of offshore wind energy projects and a grant of INR6 billion (US$72 million) for the upgrade of two ports to meet logistics requirements for offshore wind energy projects.

One 500MW wind project will be put up off the coast of Gujarat while another 500MW will be established off Tamil Nadu. The successful commissioning of these two offshore wind projects, which will be the first offshore wind projects in India, will produce renewable electricity of about 3.72 billion units annually, resulting in an annual reduction of 2.98 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions for a period of 25 years.

Also, the VGF scheme will not only launch the offshore wind energy development in India but also lead to creation of the required ecosystem in the country to supplement its ocean based economic activities. This ecosystem will support the development of an initial 37 GW of offshore wind energy at an investment of about INR4.5 trillion (US$54 billion).