NTPC Green Energy (NGEL), a wholly owned subsidiary of NTPC, has invited expressions of interest from India-based or global offshore wind power companies to form a consortium to develop offshore wind power projects in India.

NGEL plans to collaborate with a partner company with knowledge and experience in offshore wind project development across the globe.

In the long term, the consortium is expected to help NGEL develop in-house expertise and subsequently develop solutions for the execution and maintenance of offshore wind projects.

With the help of these projects, NTPC intends to reach a renewable energy capacity target of 60 GW by 2032.

The last date to submit the bids is August 14, 2023. Bids will be opened on August 16.

To be eligible, the bidders must have commissioned at least 200 MW of offshore wind power projects globally. They should have operation and management experience of a minimum of 500 MW of cumulative capacity of offshore wind turbines.

They should have at least three years of experience in owning, operating, and decommissioning offshore wind energy projects. They should also have a minimum of five years of project management experience.

The company should have managed marine surveys for offshore wind development and commissioned offshore wind transmission systems for at least 50 MW projects.

The company must have in place policies for environment, health and safety, quality assurance, anti-bribery, antifraud, anti-slavery, and anti-collusion. They should not have any major pending litigation or be in breach of national security.

The net worth of the bidders must be a minimum ₹12.5 billion (~$151.74 million), and their annual turnover for the last three financial years must be a minimum ₹5 billion (~$60.69 million).

They must also have a plan in place to meet the funding requirements for the projects and be experienced in raising ₹5 billion (~$60.69 million) to ₹10 billion (~$121.39 million).

Under the agreed capital contribution for the development of the projects, NGEL will provide milestone funding on mutually agreed terms.

In June last year, R.K Singh, Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy, announced that bids for offshore wind energy blocks of 4 GW annually for three years would be issued annually. Starting the financial year 2022-23, the bids will be released for projects to be developed in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

Following the announcement, in November 2022, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy 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.

In May 2023, the Ministry of Power extended the purview of inter-state transmission charges waiver to include offshore wind projects to facilitate the implementation and expansion of these projects.