Is the Denmark offshore wind deal the boost that India's sector needs?

The two countries will develop measures for high efficiency in the wind industry.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of India (MNRE) and Denmark’s Ministry for Energy, Utilities, and Climate have signed a cooperation agreement in the field of renewable energy with a special focus on offshore wind. This is a positive signal for the development of offshore wind in the country, according to an analyst from GlobalData.

According to Ankit Mathur, practice head of power at GlobalData, until last year, there has been a muted activity and the progress towards developing the Indian offshore wind industry was dismal.

“However, the Indian government has finally set the ball rolling and has gathered the required steam to drive the development momentum. MNRE has planned to launch the first ever 1GW offshore wind tender for Gujarat later this year, which, if fruitful can fuel India’s ambitious target of successfully foraying into Offshore wind,” Mathur said.

Denmark currently sources more than 51% of the total electricity generation from wind, Mathur noted. With the Denmark deal involving the development of measures for a highly efficient wind industry, he said that, “The measures will ensure processes that will improve the quality of wind turbines and components; certification requirements; forecasting and scheduling of offshore wind projects.”

India has set a very ambitious target of having 5GW of operating offshore wind capacity by 2022 and as much as 30GW by 2030.