The ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE), through its implementing agency, is set to issue the first bid for leasing out offshore wind energy blocks of 4 gigawatt (GW) capacity off the coast of Tamil Nadu in the next three-four months, it said in a press release on Thursday.
According to the release, renewable energy minister, R K Singh, on Thursday held a meeting regarding transmission planning for offshore wind energy projects in India.
Alok Kumar, secretary, power, and Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi, secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy were present in the meeting.
The release said that discussions were held on the transmission and evacuation infrastructure required for offshore wind projects of total capacity 10 GW off the coasts of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. A presentation on this was also made to the minister by the Central Transmission Utility.
“After a detailed review, the ministry has decided to bid out offshore wind energy blocks according to a certain trajectory,” it added.
This includes floating bids equivalent to a project capacity of 4 GW per year for a period of three years starting with the current financial year (FY23) in the two states for sale of power through open access, captive, bi-lateral third-party sale, and merchant sale.
It said that, subsequently, a project capacity of 5 GW will be bid out every year for a period of five years – up till FY30. “The project capacity of 8 GW bid out in the first two years beginning FY23 will also be able to avail of the benefits of green attributes like carbon credits,” it said.
The release further added that the bidding for the first 12 GW will be conducted on a single-stage-two-envelope model wherein the bidders will be evaluated based on their techno-commercial capabilities and only the technically qualified bidders will proceed to financial evaluation.
The financial evaluation will be based on quoted lease fee per sq km of sea bed area. The bidder offering the highest lease fee per sq km of sea bed area will be declared as the winner for allocation of the project.
Evacuation and transmission of power from offshore pooling substation to onshore transmission will be provided free of cost for all offshore wind capacities that will be bid out up to FY30, the official statement added.
