The Centre has unveiled new regulations for leasing offshore wind project sites. The Offshore Wind Energy Lease Rules, 2023, notified by Ministry of External Affairs stipulates a three-year lease for seabed areas for resource measurement and surveys, which is extendable by two years.
After this five-year period, the lease expires, requiring lessees to submit their data to the National Institute of Wind Energy, unless they start to set up wind energy capacity. For constructing and operating wind energy projects, the lease can be extended to 35 years. Lease areas will range from 25 to 500 sq. km based on project size.
The lessee obligations include a refundable security deposit of Rs 1,00,000 per MW for wind energy projects, and Rs 50,000 per MW for wind transmission projects. The deposit amount will be returned upon successful project operation and decommissioning.
Additionally, lessees are required to mark lease boundaries with visible notices and maintain them, subject to central government and stakeholder satisfaction. The government may also direct norms for turbine spacing, sub-station spacing, and minimum turbine distances from lease boundaries.
Furthermore, lessee power developers are prohibited from halting normal operations, suspending power exports, abandoning projects, or resuming operations after suspension without a 15-day notice and central government approval. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) will oversee these leasing rules.
Aiming to reach 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, the MNRE hopes to expedite offshore wind energy development in the country. The government's inaugural tender in September for seabed sites off Tamil Nadu's coast is seen as a positive move, and MNRE will auction these sites, offering incentives like waived inter-state transmission charges for projects commissioned by 31 December 2032.
