Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued a draft tender to select wind power developers for leasing sea-bed areas to develop 4 GW of offshore wind power projects off the coast of Tamil Nadu.

Grid connectivity, long-term open access, and access to the grid under the general network access (GNA) framework will be under the scope of the tender.

The energy generated from offshore wind power projects will be for sale through open access, captive, bilateral, third-party, or merchant sale modes.

Stakeholders have time until November 28, 2022, to submit their suggestions.

Bidders will have to submit ₹10 million (~$123,500) per project as an earnest money deposit.

The project must be commissioned within 48 months from the effective date of the agreement.

Bidders should have commissioned at least 100 MW of onshore renewable capacity in India or at least 200 MW of offshore wind energy capacity globally to be eligible.

Further, bidders should have experience operating an offshore wind project for a minimum of three years.

Bidders’ average annual net worth must be at least ₹25 billion (~$308.75 million) during the last three financial years.

The average annual turnover of bidders during the previous three financial years should be at least ₹10 billion (~$123.5 million).

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.

The developer should set up offshore wind projects, including the offshore pooling station, at a voltage level of 220 kV and be responsible for acquiring the land near the coast from the state or port authorities to set up the projects.

The offshore wind project should be designed for interconnection with the interstate transmission system (ISTS) per the prevailing regulations issued by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).

The 35-year tenure of the concessionaire agreement or the lease deed agreement will be as per the provisions of offshore wind power development guidelines.

In June this year, R.K Singh, Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy, announced that bids would be issued for offshore wind energy in blocks of 4 GW annually for three years.

Following the notification of the National Offshore Wind Energy Policy in 2015, the government, through the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), issued ‘Guidelines for Offshore Wind Power Assessment Studies and Surveys,’ allowing private investors to carry out offshore wind resource assessments.