As the global energy community sees increased attention on the renewable energy sector, several nations are struggling to integrate the sector. One such nation that has struggled to embrace offshore wind is India. India is among the worst polluters in the world, with cities across the nation being blanketed in a constant smog cloud, leading to socio-economic problems. The world has slowly begun to accept the reality that the conventional energy sector needs to make way for the untapped and often overlooked potential that wind and solar power present.
India’s government has outlined its plans for a new offshore wind tender process
The nation’s Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has stated that it plans to launch a new offshore wind power tender for the Tamil Nadu coast by February of next year. This would be subject to the completion of an ongoing wind assessment study in January.
India’s National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) has successfully developed a floating LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) system to collect wind data over one year. The preliminary data from that LiDAR system indicates a capacity utilization factor (CUF) of 45–50% in India.
At the recent Windergy India 2025 summit, India’s government noted the potential that the Tamil Nadu region has in reshaping the offshore wind sector.
“The survey will be completed in January, and the results so far have been very encouraging. The wind potential along the Tamil Nadu coast is very high. With these promising results, we are confident about moving forward. Once the survey is complete, we plan to issue the Tamil Nadu tender by February 2026 and finalize it by May–June 2026.” – Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Secretary of India’s Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
India’s onshore wind capacity is among the best in the world, according to industry analysts
The problem for India seems to be the adoption of the offshore wind sector, as the sector requires vastly more maintenance than its onshore cousin. Industry analysts have pointed out that India’s wind power generation capacity is among the best in the world, ranking fourth among the litany of nations leaning on wind power.
According to India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the nation has an installed wind energy capacity of 52.14 GW as of July this year. However, the aforementioned proclivity for wind only extends to the onshore wind sector, with Tamil Nadu contributing 11.8 GW of wind power.
India’s government has noted that it has set a target of 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, which aligns with global decarbonization goals. The announcement that the country will offer a new offshore wind tender has been welcomed by those aiming to increase the nation’s offshore wind capacity. With the end of Russia’s dominance in the conventional energy sector, nations like India will need to diversify their energy capacity to ensure a smooth transition to life without Russian energy resources.
India is among the nations still doing business with Russia
India, along with Russia, is a key member of the BRICS organization. That multinational initiative aims to foster cooperative business relationships between member nations. And India is among the last nations in the world still doing business with Russia, which has faced a new wave of sanctions from the West, placing the international energy market in a whirlwind of issues. India will need to cut ties with Moscow to avoid any possible sanctions on the nation due to its continued reliance on Russian energy. The new sanctions on Russian energy companies have led to Lukoil divesting its foreign energy assets, and hopefully, the sanctions will not impact the new tender process planned by India.
