Govt boosts offshore wind energy with new leasing regulations

• Published 8 months ago
• By SuperAdmin

The rules outline specific lease durations, obligations for lessees, and regulatory oversight, reflecting India’s commitment to boosting its wind energy capacity as part of its renewable energy targets.
New Delhi: In a strategic move to expand its renewable energy footprint, the central government has unveiled the ‘Offshore Wind Energy Lease Rules, 2023’. Announced by the ministry of external affairs, these new regulations are designed to streamline the process of leasing offshore wind project sites, thereby catalyzing wind energy generation in the country. The rules outline specific lease durations, obligations for lessees, and regulatory oversight, reflecting India’s commitment to boosting its wind energy capacity as part of its renewable energy targets.

Under the new regulations, a three-year lease, extendable by two years, will be granted for resource measurement and surveys in designated seabed areas.

Once this five-year period concludes, lessees are required to submit their data to the National Institute of Wind Energy. This submission is a prerequisite unless they commence the establishment of wind energy capacities.

In a further bid to encourage the construction and operation of wind energy projects, the government has provisioned for the lease to be extended up to thirty-five years.

This extension is subject to further renewal possibilities. Lease areas will vary between 25 to 500 square kilometers, depending on the scale of the project. The guidelines also mandate lessees to make a refundable security deposit.

This deposit is pegged at ₹1 lakh per megawatt for wind energy projects and ₹50,000 per MW for wind transmission projects. The refund is contingent upon the successful operation and decommissioning of the projects.

Moreover, lessees are obliged to demarcate lease boundaries with conspicuous notices and ensure their maintenance. These measures must meet the approval of the central government and relevant stakeholders. Additionally, the government reserves the right to enforce standards regarding turbine and sub-station spacing, as well as minimum distances of turbines from lease boundaries.

Power developers holding these leases are barred from interrupting normal operations, halting power exports, abandoning projects, or resuming operations post-suspension without providing a 15-day notice and obtaining approval from the central government.

The ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) is tasked with overseeing the implementation of these leasing rules. With an ambitious goal of achieving 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, the MNRE is keen on accelerating the development of offshore wind energy, a sector previously hampered by high costs.