Critique of offshore wind energy policies of the UK and Germany-What are the lessons for India

Indian economy is growing at a healthy pace during the last few years. Power sector needs to build additional generation capacity to support this growth. India currently has an installed power generation capacity of over 210,000 MW. Barely, 12% of these are from renewable energy sources. The majority of remaining 88% are from non-renewable sources. However, continued dependence on fossil fuels to power the growth of electricity generation capacity, is hardly sustainable. The renewable energy sources need to step up and start contributing, substantially, to the energy basket of India. Though onshore wind energy and, to a lesser extent, solar power are picking up, there has been no contribution from offshore wind energy sector as yet. India needs a policy framework to encourage the development of offshore wind farms. Several European countries, most notably the UK and Germany, have effective offshore wind energy policies that have helped them to accelerate the growth of their offshore wind energy sector. This paper does a review of the offshore wind energy policies of the UK and Germany on consent procedures, financial incentives and grid connectivity and recommends best of breed policies for India to grow the offshore wind energy sector in the country. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.